The third great pyramid of Teotihuacan stands inside the walled enclosure of the Ciudadela at the southern end of the Avenue of the Dead. The temple itself is smaller than the Pyramids of the Sun and Moon but more elaborate: the facade carries great stone heads of the feathered serpent and the fire-and-water deity alternating with squared frames of waves and shells — the most spectacular surviving sculpted facade of pre-Hispanic Mexico.
A later pyramid was built over part of the front, and most of the original facade is now visible only on the back. Allow forty minutes to walk all around the temple and into the Ciudadela, where there is also a museum. The discovery tunnel beneath the pyramid was opened intermittently to visitors and may be accessible by guided tour — ask at the gate.