But nestled in the Mexican Basin, just 30 miles north-east of México City, stands an ancient wonder of the New World, one you can still see, touch, and explore, the great city of Teotihuacán, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, featuring the great Pyramids of the Sun, the Moon, and the Temple of the Feathered Serpent, Quetzalcóatl.

Much still needs to be learned about the city itself and the people who once lived there. The name Teotihuacán was given after the city’s rise and fall by the Aztecs in their Náhuatl language.  Neither Aztec nor Mayan, scholarly debate continues as to exactly who the people were who built the city.  Different theories are mentioned including Toltec, Totonac, and Otomi among others. Whoever archaeologists, linguists, and historians finally establish as the builders of the city, there is no question it was a large multi-ethnic city including, in addition to those already mentioned, populations of Zapotec, Mixtec, Nahua, Maya along with many others. And the Teotihuacano civilization’s influence is undeniable, reaching as far as Guatemala and beyond. 

Believed to be settled around 100 BC (BCE), some say earlier, the ancient city’s core features the impressive Pyramids of the Sun, the Moon, and the Temple of Quetzalcóatl, among many other structures, including those referred to as talud-tablero platforms. All these structures stand along what is known as the Avenue of the Dead, a broad and very straight thoroughfare through the center of the city. The avenue’s somewhat unfortunate name also comes from the Aztecs, who believed the flat topped talud-tablero buildings were tombs. Today, it is believed these structures, rather than tombs, were platforms upon which temples were built.  What’s particularly impressive about the city, beyond its obvious vast scale and its incredible, sculpted stones and colorful murals, is the precise layout of the city according to the builders’ thorough understanding of the solar system some 1400-1700 years before Galileo.  

The city is believed to have reached a population of between 125,000 and 200,000 at its peak and it’s an archaeological treasure trove where new discoveries are made often.  I think it only fair to warn you, therefore, that throwing away your current career and becoming an archaeologist is always a risk once you’ve visited this awe-inspiring site.

On your google map, just drop the coordinates N19 41 30.012 W98 50 30.012 into your search box to get a good look at the location, its proximity to México City, and other points of interest.

If you are fortunate enough and you do get a chance to visit Teotihuacán, I recommend reading a little about the site and taking advantage of any interpretive exhibits at the entrance before walking out to the avenue.  It will enrich and inform your visit to the site. 

If you are fit, the view from the top of either the Pyramid of the Sun or the Pyramid of the Moon, or both, if you are some sort of extreme athlete, cannot be beat.

But the compound called the Ciudadela (the Citadel), so named by Spanish conquistadors because they believed it to be a fort, encloses the breathtaking Temple of Quetzalcóatl and for me holds a special fascination and beauty. I get goosebumps, the good kind, when there, and the sculptural details on the temple are jaw dropping.

Here are just a few things to remember when you go: 

I want to emphasize the massive size of the site.  The Avenue of the Dead is 4 km long (about 2 km are open to the public) and 40 meters wide.  So bring comfortable shoes, a hat, snacks, water, lightweight rain gear, sunscreen, cash, and a camera. Our 3 year old was with us the last time we went.  My husband carried him on his shoulders a lot.  In spite of his adventurous spirit, the pyramids would have been too much for my son to climb, however, there is plenty of space for him to explore.  Just keep in mind that if walking up the pyramids is in your plan, an extra pair of eyes and hands may be needed to witness the ascents from your child’s side while the rest of the group goes up.

Keep in mind, too, this part of Mexico sits pretty high up, about 7000 feet (~2100 m), and the site is in a wide open valley, so it can be hot or cold, wet or dry, windy or dead still.  Make sure to carry plenty of water so you don’t have to cut your explorations short due to thirst. And remember, unless you’re from a couple thousand feet above Denver, the air is probably thinner at Teotihuacán than at home, so pace yourself accordingly.

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However you see it, it’s hard to miss the charm of the place.  It’s one of the best-preserved colonial towns in Mexico (there have been conservation laws here since the 1920’s).  Its narrow streets are lined with grand mansions, soaring churches and stucco-clad houses with red tiled roofs, illuminated by San Miguel’s famous clear light and mountain air.  All of which makes it a perfect setting for one of the most celebrated musical events in the country, the annual San Miguel Chamber Music Festival, now in its 34th year.  From August 3 to 19, four distinguished chamber music groups will present a total of 9 concerts in the Angela Peralta Theater, San Miguel’s charming19th century opera house.  

The award-winning Pacifica Quartet opens the festival with works by Beethoven, Janacek, Shostakovich and Ravel.  The following weekend the Cassatt String Quartet, which has recorded more than 20 cds, plays Gershwin, Shostakovich and Debussy.  Later they’ll be joined by the Onix Ensemble, a Mexican group dedicated to Latin American music (they also perform solo on August 12).  The final concerts are by the Atlanta Chamber Players, a group that includes strings, wind instruments and piano.  Their concerts offer music by Beethoven, Brahms, Mozart and Mendelssohn, among others.  

Stan Gray left his high-pressure life as a financial consultant in San Francisco and moved to San Miguel in 1996.  Over the years he’s attended more than 150 chamber music concerts, and now volunteers as Vice President of the festival.  He’s an avid music lover (he ran an opera company in his youth) and promoter.  “There’s no place in Mexico where you can hear this level of music making,” he told me, “and probably no place in all of Latin America. 

“To make it to the top as a chamber group takes between five and ten years of playing together constantly.  Then it’s no longer a group of individuals, but a single, seamless blend of sound.  That’s the magic we offer at the festival.”

“The audiences are unbelievably enthusiastic and appreciative,” noted Stan, “and the musicians respond to that.  One German violinist told me she’d never gotten so much applause at home. There’s a real love affair here between audience and performer.”  

And apparently the guest artists also love the colonial charm and easy life style of San Miguel. “It’s a small town, so you might see the cellist walking down the street and stop to chat.  There’s sort of a ‘summer-camp for grown-ups’ feel to it all.  Once during a performance it began to rain—a real downpour.  The noise on the roof completely drowned out the music.  So they just stopped for a while and we all sat around like a group of friends talking while we waited for the rain to stop.  Word has gotten out about the festival and about how great San Miguel is. We have world class musicians now asking us if they can come and perform,” said Stan.  

Aside from the public performances, there’s an important educational aspect to the festival.  Visiting musicians offer master classes and performing advice to several dozen selected music students who come from all over Mexico.  Invited students are also given free admission to all concerts.  “Working with artists of this caliber is a thrilling experience for these kids. While Mexico has strong roots in classical music, chamber music has generally lagged behind orchestral and vocal music in terms of excellence. Many of the string quartets in this country are made up of Russian immigrants,” Stan explained. “So this is a rare opportunity.”

“Because the groups are small, chamber music offers a kind of textbook on how to listen to music.  You can hear each melodic line so clearly,” Stan added.  “And because the space is intimate you really get to feel the music in a special way.  It doesn’t get better than this.”

For the complete schedule and ticket information, consult the website: www.festivalsanmiguel.com

Individual concert tickets are on sale at the Peralta Theater box office, at the corner of Mesones and Hernandez Macias (side door), from 10:00 to 5:00. Telephone: 415-152-2200.  For Festival Patron packages and season tickets call 154-8722 or 150-0041 for personal assistance. 

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When I was ten we moved to New Hampshire and I had my first taste of history. Two hundred year old stone walls divided the rolling countryside. Big red barns, squat Grange halls and houses with large front porches spoke of a time without cars or television, before the Blackberry replaced the rising and setting sun as the way to arrange one's time. 

At 19 I moved to New York City, a place too busy rushing toward the future to be overly concerned with the past. There, the colonial heritage is kept alive mostly in museums and wood-paneled restaurants with the word 'Tavern' on the signs. 

But from the first time I visited Mexico in 1989, I felt something different about the age and the history of the place, something much older, but very much alive. The reminders of both impermanence and endurance make living in Mexico City now such a rich and rewarding experience.

 Tenochtitlán, the Aztec name for what is now Mexico City, was founded in 1325. By the time the Spaniards arrived in 1519 the place had grown into one of the most magnificent cities on the planet. The conquistadores tried their best to level the city, but what they mostly accomplished was a rearrangement of the stones. Even the shrine to the Virgin of Guadalupe--the most Mexican female of them all--is built over an altar to the Aztec mother goddess Tonantzín. 

The ruins of the Templo Mayor, the principal site of Aztec worship, were discovered accidentally by electricians laying cables in 1978. The huge mass of stone sits right in the middle of today's metropolis, making it feel as if everything else emanates from this once sacred site. A temple to Ehecatl, Aztec god of wind, sits smack in the midst of a busy passageway at the Pino Suarez metro station. Bits of carved stone adorn several buildings in the centro historico, and things keep popping up at building sites, much to the dismay of architects and developers who must stop work and let archeologists take over. In 2010 a twelve-ton monolith of the earth goddess Tlaltecuhtil--one of a very few pieces still to retain its original colors--was found near the Templo Mayor. She's quite ugly, but displays an awesome sense of power (you can see her in the museum next to the ruins). 

A vivid reminder of Aztec presence in Mexico City is the use of Nahuatl, the language of the Aztecs.  You will occasionally hear it spoken in a market, but perhaps the biggest reminder of Mexico City’s Aztecan origins is the abundance of traditional, old names in Mexico City. There are more than 800 Moctezumas in the Mexico City phonebook, and numerous Cuauhtemocs. Aztec place names are found all over the city, and can be real tongue twisters at first. I managed the relatively easy Coyoacán and Xochimilco early on, but I don't think I really felt at home here until I was successfully able to tell a taxi driver to take me to Plaza Popocatepetl, Calle Iztaccihuatl and the Sala Nezahuacoyotl. (It's easier than it looks, as most words are pronounced as they would be in English, except for X which can have a 'sh' or 'h' sound, and stressed on the penultimate syllable (as in Spanish), unless there's an accent.)

Hardly a day passes in Mexico City without some reminder of the culinary heritage the Aztecs left us. Although technically anything that includes animal fat is a post-conquest adaptation, many foods in Mexico have been eaten essentially unchanged for more than a millenium--the ubiquitous tortilla is the perfect example. Corn, tomatoes, chilies, chocolate and cactus (nopales) are part of any Mexican diet. Pulque (a fermented drink made from sap of the maguey cactus), escamoles (ant eggs), chapulines (grasshoppers), and gusanos (grubs) might seem exotic to foreigners, but is familiar to any Mexican. Every time I unwrap a cornhusk to eat a tamal I get a certain thrill of being part of something much bigger, much older, than myself.

At almost 700 years and counting, Mexico City wears its age like an old movie star who refuses to get a face lift. The wrinkles, grey hair, the wear and tear--it's all part of the charm. But when she gets dressed up to go out, you might think she's been drinking from the Fountain of Youth (check out Colonia Roma on a Friday night and you'll see what I mean). The Aztec thing--earthy, pagan, hidden just below your feet, new and old at the same time--is part of Mexico City's eternal allure.

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