Tenayuca

Settled by Chichimecs in about the 13th century, Tenayuca was later ruled by the Aztecs, and the double-staircase pyramid they left is a smaller version of the now-ruined one that stood in the Templo Mayor. As at the Templo Mayor, each staircase was topped by a temple – one dedicated to the water god Tláloc, the other probably dedicated to the Aztec tribal god Huizilopochtli. Striking serpent sculptures, possibly pre-Aztec, surround three sides of its base (imagine what they looked like when they were painted bright red, yellow and green!). If you just want to admire the pyramid there’s no need to go in, other than to visit the small museum and read the explanatory signs, since the site is perfectly visible from the outside.