- Title: Glass pane in Mexico City reveals ancient ruins under metropolis
- Date: 6th December 2016
- Summary: MEXICO CITY, MEXICO (RECENT) (REUTERS) PEOPLE LOOKING THROUGH GLASS PANE TO REVEAL ARCHAEOLOGICAL FOUNDATIONS BELOW RUINS BELOW GLASS SIGN OUTSIDE OF GLASS PANE EXHIBIT RUINS PEOPLE LOOKING AT RUINS PIPE PASSING THROUGH RUINS PEOPLE LOOKING AT RUINS PIPE PASSING THROUGH RUINS RUINS PEOPLE LOOKING AT RUINS THROUGH GLASS PANE RUINS URBAN ARCHAEOLOGIST, RAUL BARRERA, POINTING SOMETHING OUT TO VISITOR (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) URBAN ARCHAEOLOGIST, RAUL BARRERA, SAYING: "A visitor can appreciate the underground structure which is a wall at an incline, it's a wall that is the first foundations of this building. For us it has a symbolism, an unpolished mountain which has a sacred symbolism." RUINS THROUGH GLASS PANE PEOPLE TAKING PHOTOS OF RUINS THROUGH GLASS PANE RUINS (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) URBAN ARCHAEOLOGIST, RAUL BARRERA, SAYING: "This discovery is very important because it is from one of the larger buildings of this sacred area. At the moment we don't know to which deity it was dedicated to because we are lacking the pieces to confirm it but I think the important thing is that this building was found and registered." VARIOUS OF TEMPLO MAYOR ARCHAEOLOGICAL AREA BATHED IN PURPLE LIGHT
- Embargoed: 21st December 2016 14:06
- Keywords: Aztec glass pane Tenochitlan Templo Mayor
- Location: MEXICO CITY, MEXICO
- City: MEXICO CITY, MEXICO
- Country: Mexico
- Reuters ID: LVA0015BQYN9F
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Pedestrians in downtown Mexico City now have the chance to glimpse into the ancient city's Aztec foundation.
Archaeologists in the Mexican capital have set up a glass pane along a busy footpath which peeks down to an original structure of the megalopolis.
Before it was known by its modern namesake, Mexico's largest city went by the name of Tenochitlan, the then ancient capital of the expanding Aztec Empire in the 15th century.
The city was razed by the Spanish in 1521 but clues of what existed before still remain.
"A visitor can appreciate the underground structure which is a wall at an incline, it's a wall that is the first foundations of this building. For us it has a symbolism, an unpolished mountain which has a sacred symbolism," said urban archaeologist, Raul Barrera.
At its peak Tenochtitlan was the largest city in Pre-Columbian Americas and is marveled by experts for its advanced civilisation for the time.
Back then, Mexico City was made up of various canals and ancient Tenochitlan was connected using causeways for a population that was one of the largest in the ancient world.
"This discovery is very important because it is from one of the larger buildings of this sacred area. At the moment we don't know to which deity it was dedicated to because we are lacking the pieces to confirm it but I think the important thing is that this building was found and registered," added Barrera.
Under much of modern day Mexico City, archaeologists believe further clues into Tenochitlan still remain.
Construction work in the capital continues to reveal new insights. Arguably the most significance was the discovery of the ancient Templo Mayor in downtown Mexico City during work to extend a metro line.
Templo Mayor was one of the main temples of the Aztecs and was added to the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1987. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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