Not many travelers know that, perhaps while walking through the streets of its Historic Center, hidden within the urban landscape, several archaeological sites await to be discovered by 21st-century visitors—ready to reveal their secrets and recreate a journey back to Mexico hundreds of years ago, “when temples and pyramids seemed to emerge from a great lake.”

For this reason, if you are a history and culture enthusiast, here are three places with pre-Hispanic remains you can’t miss during your next visit to CDMX:

1. Cuicuilco. Located in the south of the city (very close to Perisur), this site offers a walk through the remains of what was once the largest and most important city in the country’s central region more than two thousand years ago—until one day, the Xitle volcano suddenly erupted and buried the entire metropolis and its inhabitants under lava, leaving only the remains of a circular temple that—ironically—was dedicated to the “Old God of Fire.”

Don’t miss walking along its trails to discover the flora and fauna that still thrive in the area and climbing to the top of the circular temple to take the best selfie linking past and present!

2. Templo Mayor. Located just steps from the Metropolitan Cathedral and, according to tradition, built on the exact spot where the Mexica saw the sign promised by their gods (the eagle on the cactus) to found what would become their capital city, Tenochtitlan. Today, you can tour the ruins of the temple to see its different construction phases (which once reached up to 45 meters in height) and visit its fascinating museum, home to many artifacts found during various excavations of what was the most important temple for the Mexica until its destruction after the Spanish conquest.

Don’t miss going up to the museum’s top floor to admire the monoliths of the goddesses Coyolxauhqui and Tlaltecuhtli. Simply stunning!

3. Tlatelolco. Located north of Mexico City’s Historic Center, this archaeological site, framed by large apartment buildings, allows visitors to explore the remains of the Sacred Precinct of this Indigenous city, contemporary to Tenochtitlan, which grew in importance thanks to its thriving commercial activity (its market amazed Hernán Cortés and his soldiers during their stay in Tlatelolco and Mexico-Tenochtitlan).

Don’t miss finding the “Plaza of the Three Cultures” and taking a picture showing elements of the indigenous constructions, colonial architecture (the church), and a modern building (any large apartment building or contemporary structure) all in the same frame.