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Key Details
Type
Sacred SiteMythology
Mesoamerican Pantheon
Coordinates
19.6925°N, 98.8438°W
About This Location
Where gods are made
The Mexica called the ruined metropolis Teotihuacan, "place where gods are made," and set the Fifth Sun's creation there: gods meet in darkness, Nanahuatzin and Tecuciztecatl leap into a fire, and the sun and moon begin. Sahagun and the Leyenda de los Soles tell it. The city's own language is unread as narrative. Pyramids of Sun and Moon are later names. The myth is a Mexica reading of abandoned monuments, not a Teotihuacano text.
Primary Sources
“The gods gathered at Teotihuacan. Nanahuatzin threw himself into the fire and became the sun.”
More from Mesoamerican Pantheon
Xibalba
UnderworldThe Maya underworld, 'Place of Fear,' ruled by the death lords One Death and Seven Death. Souls must pass through houses of darkness, knives, cold, jaguars, fire, and bats. The Hero Twins descended here to defeat death itself.
Tamoanchan
RealmThe Aztec paradise where the gods created humanity from the bones retrieved from Mictlan. A place of flowering trees and eternal spring, Tamoanchan represents the original state of creation before the current world age.
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Aztlan
RealmThe mythical homeland of the Aztec people, 'Place of Whiteness' or 'Place of Herons.' From this island city, the Mexica began their long migration south, guided by Huitzilopochtli, until they found the eagle on the cactus that marked Tenochtitlan.
Chichen Itza
Sacred SiteThe great Maya-Toltec city dominated by El Castillo, the pyramid of Kukulkan. During the equinoxes, shadows create the illusion of a serpent descending the stairs. The cenote here received sacrificial offerings to Chaac.
Coatepec (Serpent Mountain)
Sacred SiteThe mythical mountain where Huitzilopochtli was born fully armed to defeat his sister Coyolxauhqui and four hundred brothers. The Templo Mayor of Tenochtitlan was a recreation of this sacred mountain.