Tour Teotihuacan - Temple of Quetzalcoatl

Mysterious, secret tunnels leading to ominously sealed chambers and unknown treasures typically present exciting adventures for fictional heroes such as Indiana Jones, or even Egypt’s renown archaeologist, Dr. Zahi Hawass. They spark my interest too. Which leaves me impatiently waiting to receive news of archaeology’s latest thriller – the tunnel recently discovered beneath Teotihuacan’s Temple of Quetzalcoatl.



Also known as the Temple of the Feathered Serpent, this third largest pyramid in Teotihuacan made headlines last summer with the announcement of the tunnel’s discovery. Using the latest technology like ground penetrating radar, laser scanners and trailblazing robots, archaeologists are at this moment slowly probing into this potentially groundbreaking discovery (no pun intended). At last word, 200 tons of earth have been removed and 60,000 pieces of artifacts have so far been recovered, and archaeologists haven’t even made it to the three sealed chambers yet. Could these be the burial chambers of Teotihuacan’s most prominent rulers? Will we finally learn the identity of the mysteriously unknown people we call Teotihuacanoes?

Time will tell.

It wouldn’t be the first time human remains have been discovered around the Temple of Quetzalcoatl. More than 200 sacrificial victims had already been found there. Most of these victims were warriors from diverse regions of Mesoamerica and seem to have been slaughtered for the dedication of the temple’s completion sometime during the third century AD. This makes the Temple of Quetzalcoatl the last of the three great pyramids to have been constructed in Teotihuacan.

Although the Temple of Quetzalcoatl sits at the south end of the Avenue of the Dead by today’s appearance, in reality it sat at the heart of Teotihuacan’s center where the Avenue of the Dead was intersected by another major east-west avenue. It remains the focal point within the enclosing Citadel – the huge courtyard surrounding it. What the temple itself lacks in size when compared to the pyramids at the north end of the Avenue of the Dead, it makes up for in decoration. The façade of the once seven-tiered step pyramid is elaborately adorned with some of the earliest known representations of Quetzalcoatl, which suggests that the cult of Quetzalcoatl may have originated in Teotihuacan. These heads of the feathered serpent alternate along the façade with images of another deity - Tlaloc.

The Temple of Quetzalcoatl must have been a visually extraordinary building during its day. Traces of polychrome pigments only hint at the beautiful colors that once adorned the gray and sun-washed wall reliefs we see today. Each vivid tier of the temple was ornately painted in hues of red and blue, green and white. And what must have been the most striking feature of all, obsidian filled the eyes of the feathered serpent figures, which glittered with life under the sun.