Tlatelolco (archaeological site)

Tlatelolco is an archaeological excavation site in Mexico City, Mexico where remains of the pre-Columbian city-state of the same name have been found. It is centered on the Plaza de las Tres Culturas. On one side of the square is this excavated Tlatelolco site, on a second is the oldest European school of higher learning in the Americas called the Colegio de Santa Cruz de Tlatelolco, and on the third stands a mid-20th-century modern office complex, formerly housing the Mexican Foreign Ministry, and since 2005 used as the Centro Cultural Universitario of UNAM (National University of Mexico). Tlatelolco was founded in 1338, thirteen years later than Tenochtitlan. At the main temple of Tlatelolco, archeologists recently discovered a pyramid within the visible temple; the pyramid is more than 700 years old. This indicates that the site is older than previously thought, according to the Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia (National Institute of Anthropology and History; INAH). Because this pyramid has design features similar to pyramids found in Tenayuca and Tenochtitlan, this site may prove to be the first mixed Aztec and Tlatelolca construction found in Mexico. In the archaeological area there are temples dedicated to Mexican deities such as Quetzalcoatl, Ehecatl and Huītzilōpōchtli. Prehispanic structures are mainly distributed to the south and north of the so-called Major Temple. Some of the most important identified buildings are: Major Temple. It is the largest structure; it is located in the central part of the area and the characteristics of stage II resemble those of Tenayuca and the Templo Mayor of Tenochtitlan. It is a platform of three bodies with wide steps split in two by central and lateral alfardas. Apparently, this building was taller than that of Tenochtitlan. Calendar Temple. It shows a board decorated with unusual reliefs at the first three trecenas of the pre-Hispanic calendar Tōnalpōhualli. It is the only minor temple with double staircase.