Located in the Basin of Mexico, 48km northeast of modern day Mexico City, Teotihuacan was established around 100 BC and continued to be built until about 250 AD. It may have lasted until sometime between the 7th and 8th centuries AD, and at its zenith, perhaps in the first half of the 1st millennium AD, was the largest city in the pre-Columbian Americas (with perhaps 150,000 inhabitants). Although it's a subject of debate whether Teotihuacan was the center of a state empire, its influence throughout Mesoamerica is well documented. The Aztecs may have been influenced by this city. Archaeological evidence suggests that Teotihuacan was a multi-ethnic city, with distinct quarters occupied by Otomi, Zapotec, Mixtec, Maya and Nahua peoples. The Totonacs have always maintained that they were the ones who built it. The Aztecs repeated that story, but it has not been corroborated by archaeological findings.
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