YANN ARTHUS - BERTRAND

MARKET NEAR XOCHIMILCO DISTRICT, MEXICO CITY, MEXICO (19°20’ N, 99°05’ W)

This mosaic of brightly colored parasols hides a bustling, noisy market, set up for the day in a street of the capital. Shaded from the sun, stalls selling fruit and vegetables, herbal remedies, and spices sit side by side with others that sell cloth and craft artifacts. Mexico’s flourishing markets are a national institution, held daily all over the country. Like their crafts, their traditional clothing, and the façades of buildings, the markets express Mexicans’ love of vivid, bright colors, such as the brilliant pink known as «rosa Mexicana.» Internationally, Mexico was a world champion of commercial growth between 1985 and 1999. Although the national GDP doubled during this period, it is only today that household consumption has begun to rise. This trend may benefit some of the wealthier urban population, but life has not improved for the majority of Mexicans, half of whom live below the poverty line. The social unrest that has troubled the state of Chiapas since 1994 is partly due to this.

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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yann_Arthus-Bertrand

YANN ARTHUS - BERTRAND

Templo Mayor

Templo Mayor 026, originalmente cargada por mebaraktrue.

The Great Pyramid or Templo Mayor was the main temple of the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan (modern Mexico City). The temple rose 60 m (197 ft) above the city's ritual precinct, surmounted by dual shrines to the deities Huitzilopochtli (god of war and sun) and Tlaloc (god of rain and fertility).

It was mostly destroyed in 1521 after the conquest of the Aztec empire by the Spanish conquistadores under the leadership of Hernán Cortés. Remains of the lower portions of the temple complex have been discovered by modern archaeologists buried under a portion of modern Mexico City.

Numerous smaller buildings and platforms associated with the temple formed a closely-situated complex around its base. A stucco relief depicting a tzompantli, or "skull rack", decorated one platform leading to the temple.

The temple was enlarged several times, and for the last time in 1487.

The Great Temple was excavated between 1978 and 1987 in a major project directed by Eduardo Matos Moctezuma.

Templo Mayor