312 ANCIENT MONUMENTS. 



with decorations, nor disfigured by wooden balconies 

 and galleries. The roofs are terraced; and the 

 streets, which are clean and well lighted, have very 

 broad pavements. The water of the lake is brack- 

 ish, as is that of all the wells ; but the city is sup- 

 plied by two fine aqueducts. The objects which 

 generally attract the notice of travellers are, 1. The 

 cathedral, which has two towers ornamented with 

 pilasters and statues ; 2. The treasury ; 3. The con- 

 vents, of which the most distinguished is that of 

 St. Francis ; 4. The hospital ; 5. The acordada, a fine 

 building, of which the prisons are spacious and well 

 aired ; 6. The school of mines ; 7. The botanical 

 garden ; 8. The university ; 9. The academy of fine 

 arts; 10. The equestrian statue of Charles IV., in 

 the great square. 



Few remains of ancient monuments are to be 

 found in the town or its vicinity. Of those that 

 exist, the chief are the ruins of the Aztec dikes 

 and aqueducts ; the sacrificial stone, adorned with a 

 relievo representing the triumph of a Mexican king ; 

 the great calendar in the plaza mayor ; the colossal 

 statue of the goddess Teoyaomiqui, in one of the 

 galleries of the university ; the Aztec manuscripts 

 or hieroglyphical pictures preserved in the house of 

 the viceroys ; and the foundations of the palace be- 

 longing to the sovereigns of Alcolhuacan at Tezcuco. 



The only remarkable antiquities in the valley of 

 Mexico are the remains of the two pyramids of San 

 Juan de Teotihuacan, to the north-east of the lake 

 of Tezcuco, consecrated to the sun and moon. One 

 of these in its present state is a hundred and fifty 

 feet in height, the other a hundred and forty-four. 

 The interior is clay mixed with small stones, while 

 the facings are of porous amygdaloid, and they are 

 surrounded by a group of smaller elevation, dis- 

 posed in a regular series. Another ancient object 

 worthy of notice is the military intrenchment of 

 Xochicalco, to the S.S.W. of the town of Cueraa- 



