Teotihuacán was at its height in the first half of the 1st millennium CE, the largest Pre-Columbian city in the Americas. The name Teotihuacán is also used to refer to the civilization or culture that this city was the centre of, which at its greatest extent included much of central Mexico. Its influence spread throughout Mesoamerica; evidence of Teotihuacán presence, if not outright political and economic control, can be seen at numerous sites in Veracruz and the Maya region.

The city was located in what is now the San Juan Teotihuacán municipality in the State of México, approximately 40km north-east of Mexico City. The city's broad central avenue, called "Avenue of the Dead" is flanked by impressive ceremonial architecture, including the immense Pyramid of the Sun (second largest in the New World) and the Pyramid of the Moon. Along the Avenue of the Dead are many smaller talud-tablero platforms.