Aztec ruins get a new roof after storm damage

STORY: What does it take to build

a new roof over Aztec ruins?

Locator: Mexico City, Mexico

A team of engineers, restorers,

architects and archeologists

have been toiling for

14 months to do just that

after a storm took out a roof that

covered this 500-year-old site

Restorers say it will be ready by mid-September

TEMPLO MAYOR MUSEUM DIRECTOR, PATRICIA LEDEZMA BOUCHAN:

"What happened was that the Mexicas settled in a lake. The architecture imposed by Europeans wasn't built for the ground on which the Mexcias were on. And if they already had settlement problems, the modern structures - all of these buildings we see behind us - are very heavy. There has been a differential sinking which has aggravated during the last 20 years due to water extraction since 1980 in modern-day Mexico City. Therefore, there are many elements which have contributed to the deformation of the archaeological relics. On the other hand, we know of the climate change issue. Lately, the amount of rain water and hail has increased."

The new roof had to be

wide and strong enough

to withstand extreme weather

and protect elaborately carved murals

All the while avoiding damage

to the fragile pre-Hispanic floor

The Templo Mayor complex

was the Aztec's holiest shrine

and believed to be the

center of the universe