A guy called Erik: Šime ide za Amerike (MEX): Teotihuacán

Malo ih je teško videti iz daljine - ne zato što nisu visoke, nego što im je sadašnja boja skoro pa identična sa okolnim brdima i planinama.

It's kinda hard noticing the pyramids from a distance - not because they're not tall, their and the color of the nearby hills and mountains are almost the same!

Mimikrija, zar ne? / Mimicry, no?

Nakon što sam studiozno istraživao prevoz autobusom (ne uzalud - mesto treba posetiti nekoliko puta), na kraju sam otišao tamo sa komšijama koje su imale auto. Od Meksiko Sitija do Teotiuakana ima 48km. Izlaskom iz gradske zone (Meksiko Siti je posebna država-grad koja se do pre nekoliko meseci zvala Distrito Federal - DF, a sada Ciudad de México*), ulazite u okolnu Estado de México sa brdašcima punih šareno obojenih kućica**.

*Čisto da bude komplikovanije, meksikanci koji žive van Meksiko Sitija referišu na glavni grad kao na "Meksiko", a oni su iz... Haliska, Gvadalahare...
**Rekoše mi da političke partije plaćaju krečenje kuća, ukoliko je u boji njihove partije. Zamislite samo kako bi to funkcionisalo u Srbiji...
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After researching for some time how to get there by bus (not in vain - one needs to see the place several times), I visited the place with a couple of neighbors with a car. From Mexico City to Teotihuacan there's 48km. Leaving the city zone (Mexico City is a special city-state which was officially called - just until few months ago - Distrito Federal - DF, and now Ciudad de México*), you're entering into the surrounding Estado de México, with many hills densely filled with colorful houses.**

*To make it even more complicated, Mexicans residing outside the city, refer to the capital simply as "Mexico", while they are from... Jalisco, Guadalajara...
**I was told that political parties are paying for the houses to get painted, IF you do it in the color of their party...

Dođite ujutru, dok sunce još nije jako i nema gužve. Posebno praznicima i vikendima. Ceo kompleks - Zona Arqueológica - je otvoren od 9 do 17č. I, ako je u pitanju sunčan dan, namažite se nekom kremom za sunce. Nema veze da li imate ten ili ne, bićete kao jastozi. Drugi put sam izgoreo u Meksiku zahvaljujući piramidama.
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Arrive here during the morning, before the sun is high and crowded. Specially during the holidays and weekends. The entire complex - Zona Arqueológica - is open 9AM-17PM. And, if it's a sunny day, get a suntan creme. You'll be like lobsters, irrelevant of your skin color. This was the second time I got burned by Mexican sun.

Ako ne dođete rano, čeka vas ovo:
If you're not there early enough, be prepared for:

Ovo je red pri našem dolasku, po povratku se nalazio oko ugla, do iduće stranice piramide... This was the queue upon our arrival, while later it was spreading behind the corner, up to the other side of the pyramid...

Peli su sve svi - stari, mladi, debeli, mršavi, bebe, dva psa... stepenice nisu toliko izlizane koliko sam očekivao od jedne popularne arheološke destinacije (razlog - gornji sloj nije originalan), a jedino pomagalo je vam je uže u sredini. Sjajno za držanje kondicije, samo ukoliko ne stajete previše pri penjanju. Dobro, hajdemo na najveću, Piramidu sunca! (puh, pant)
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Everybody were climbing up - old, young, fat, skinny, babies, two dogs... the stairs were not so frayed as I expected from a popular archaeological site (reason - upper layer is not original), while the only support is a plastic cord in the middle. Great for exercising, if you're not frequently stopping while going up. Alright, let's climb the biggest, Sun pyramid!

Pogled ka Piramidi Kecalkoatla / view towards Quetzalcoatl pyramid

Pogled ka Mesečevoj piramidi / View towards Moon pyramid

Pretpostavka je da je vrh bio zaravnjen (kao i danas) gde su se nalazili hramovi. Pre par decenija je otkriveno da ova piramida ima i unutrašnje prostorije, iako nisu do sada istražene.

Još uvek traju diskusije o tome koja je bila civilizacija koja je podigla ove piramide; arheološki ostaci datiraju još iz Neolita, a smatra se da ono što se može videti danas dolazi iz tzv. klasičnog perioda Teotiuakana (200-900 godina nove ere).

Na vrhu možete da čujete neke neobične zvuke - da li je u blizini zoološki vrt, ringišpil ili se pušta neki film? Prodavci u podnožju koji prodaju glinene skulpturice s kojima možete da pravite zvuk kondora i jaguara. Ne budite naivni kao i ja da date 45 pesosa za malog kondora - malo dalje, na štandovima, košta 15...
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It is considered that the top was flattened (like today) with buildings like temples. A few decades ago a tunnel was discovered inside the pyramid, although it is still not researched well.

There are still discussions about which civilization made these monuments; archaeological findings could be found from Neolithic times, but it is considered that what we could see now comes from the so called Classical Period of Teotihuacan (200-900 AD).

On the top you can hear some odd sounds - is there a zoo nearby, a rollercoaster or a movie screening? It's the vendors in the foothill, selling clay sculptures making sounds of condors and jaguars. Just don't buy a small condor for 45 pesos like me - a bit further, there are stands where you could find it just for 15...

Piramida sunca se nalazi na istočnoj strani, a Piramida meseca na severu, prateći - očigledno - kretanje nebeskih tela. Na kraju krajeva, smatra se da je grad predstavljao uređenje sveta (naziv Teotihuacán znači "mesto rođenja bogova").

Natpisi nisu posebno informativni - nema ih puno, niti vam govore nešto zanimljivo, kao da su izvađeni iz nekih dosadnih stručnih knjiga. "Piramida ima četvorougaonu osnovu, visine xx, sa x soba, x delova..." pa vidim to i sam. Jedino je fino što su napisani na španskom, nauatl i engleskom jeziku.

U sredini se nalazi Avenija mrtvih, koja ide pravcem sever-jug, kojom idemo sada do Piramide meseca.
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The Sun pyramid is on the east, while the Moon pyramid is on the north, following - obviously - the movement of heavenly bodies. After all, it is considered that the city represented the gods' world-making (Teotihuacán means "the birthplace of gods").

Information boards are not so interesting - firstly, there not many of them around, and the texts are rather boring. "The pyramid had a square basis, xx meters height, with x rooms and x parts...", well, I can see that with my own eyes. A nice thing, though, is that they are written in Spanish, Nahuatl and English.

In the middle is the Avenue of the dead, with a north-south axis, which we take to get to the next, Pyramid of the moon.

Zidovi čiji su zidovi zaliveni betonom. Inače, nema demarkacije koji sloj je "originalan", a koji je rekonstrukcija / Walls were filled-in with concrete. Btw, there are no marks indicating "original" and reconstructed parts.

Piramida meseca je manja od Piramide sunca i ne možete se popeti do samoga vrha. Na putu od jedne do druge piramide, pored zgrada, imate samo par ostataka, poput murala jaguara i dela uništene skulpture jednog božanstva. Grad je poprilično bio (i ostao) ogoljen po putanju dekoracije*. Pali su mi na pamet antički grčki hramovi - bele se danas, a nekada su bili puni boja...

*Osim Piramide Quetzalcoatl na jugu.

Grad nema zidina niti (do sada) otkrivenih vojnih lokacija. Ostavio je veliki uticaj na kasnije gradove i urbane centre u tom regionu, kao i na civilizacije Maja i Asteka, ovi poslednji koji su "preveli" stare bogove u svoj panteon.

Centralni deo grada je iskopan i restaurisan delimično, dok se okolo nalazi šira zona, gde su ljudi zapravo i živeli. Ove "humke" su najverovatnije neiskopane manje "piramide" ili neke druge profane građevine. Tu se dobro i vide kontrasti između restaurisanih i starih zidova.
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The Moon pyramid is smaller than the previous one and you cannot reach the top. On the way here, apart from buildings, you can see just a couple of remains, like a jaguar mural and parts of an destroyed god sculpture. The city was (and still is) pretty bald regarding decoration*. I had been reminded of ancient Greek temples - white today, colorful in the past...

*Except for Quetzalcoatl pyramid on the south.

The city has no walls or (until now) military buildings. It had an enormous impact on latter cities and urban zones in the region, as well as influenced civilizations of Mayas and Aztecs, the latter even appropriated and translated the old gods into their pantheon.

While the central part of the city is excavated and partially restored, the surrounding wider area is not so much in focus, where actually people lived. These "mounds" are probably unexcavated "pyramids" or other type of civil buildings. You could see well the contrasts between conserved and old, rocky walls.

Ostalo je da vidimo deo kompleksa na jugu i muzej... već izgoreli i gladni, ostavili smo to za drugi put.
Now, to check the part on the south and the museum... but we were already fried and hungry, so let's leave smth for next time.

¡Hasta luego!

Skulpture, keramika, murali i ostali vredni predmeti se mahom nalaze u obližnjem muzeju, Antropološkom muzeju u Meksiko Sitiju i privatnim kolekcijama / Sculptures, ceramics, murals and other valuable objects can be found in the nearby museum, th Antropological museum in Mexico City and private collections