Teotihuacn: Alarm over construction near ancient site
Published 11 hours ago
There are reports local owners want to build fairground attractions for tourists
The Mexican government has condemned unauthorised building work being carried out at the ancient city of Teotihuacán, near Mexico City.
The UN's international council on monuments and sites (Icomos) said bulldozers threatened to raze as many as seven acres at the protected site.
Teotihuacán is a Unesco World Heritage Site and is one of the most popular tourist attractions in the country.
UN officials raised the alarm about building work at the site on Monday.
Icomos Mexico said the excavation work threatened "archaeological, housing and monumental remains which are also being looted" and called on the Mexican government to decisively intervene so that experts can get in to evaluate the damage.
Experts from the site say they began to raise the alarm earlier this year after construction began, including the use of heavy machinery, on the complex's outskirts when supervision was limited because of the pandemic.
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Aerial view of the Moon Pyramid taken during the Teotihuacan taken in 2007IMAGE COPYRIGHT AFP
Construction is being carried out on the outskirts of the site's famous boulevard and pyramid complex (file photo)
Archaeologist Rogelio Rivero Chong, who is director of the Teotihuacán site, told El País newspaper that police officers who had gone to examine the construction had been threatened by workers wielding sticks, stones and pipes.
More:
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-57252629
Pyramid of the Sun:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pyramid_of_the_Sun
Pyramid of the Moon:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pyramid_of_the_Moon
Teotihuacan, the Largest Prehistoric City in the Americas.
A Photo Gallery
http://www.jqjacobs.net/mesoamerica/teotihuacan.html
