Mexico’s ancient village Teotihuacan reopens

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexico’s pre-Hispanic ruin sites have begun re-opening to tourists for the first time since they were closed due to the coronavirus pandemic in March.

The ancient sites hadn’t seemed so lonely since they were abandoned centuries ago. The few hundred visitors who will be allowed into most sites must line up for limited tickets, get their temperatures checked, wear face masks, get a dose of hand sanitizing gel and stay 1.5 yards (meters) from each other. Admission will be limited to just 30% of the sites’ capacities.

Mayan ruins like Tulum and Cobá will reopen Monday; Chichen Itza will apparently reopen later.

At the country’s most-visited archaeological site, the pyramids of Teotihuacan just north of Mexico City, cash-strapped trinket vendors returned but there were few visitors Thursday. Visitors are limited to 3,000 per day and are not allowed to climb up the Pyramids of the Sun or Moon, which used to draw tens of thousands of visitors for the Spring and Fall equinoxes each year.

Omar Gonzalez visited Teotihuacan with his wife and three children on the first day it opened, saying they had been looking forward to the trip since last year.

“We had this trip planned since last year,” González said. “We had the package and everything else, but unfortunately due to the contingency we had to postpone it until now.”

Teotihuacan was perhaps the most important and influential city in the region during its apex between 100 B.C. and A.D. 750, when it had about 100,000 residents. The city was abandoned long before the rise of the Aztecs in the 14th century.

Ramon Alvarez Negrete set up his handicrafts for sale at a spot along the Causeway of the Dead, a broad stone-paved boulevard that runs between the pyramids. Alvarez Negrete said it had been a hard five months with the site closed.