Ancient Mexican City Threatened by New Building
墨西哥古城面临违章建筑威胁
An illegal building project is threatening one of North America's greatest treasures: the ancient pyramids in central Mexico. The project may harm the remains of temples and about 24 other ancient buildings.
一个非法建筑工程正威胁着北美最伟大的文物之一：墨西哥中部的古金字塔。该工程可能会破坏寺庙遗迹和其它大约24座古建筑。
The illegal project is next to the Teotihuacan archeological area. Building anything new there is illegal. The owner of the land, however, has ignored orders from Mexico's antiquities organization (INAH) to stop for the past two months. Many Mexicans are angry that officials are failing to protect the ruins of Teotihuacan, a place visited every year by large numbers of people.
这一非法工程紧邻特奥蒂瓦坎古城。在那里新建任何工程都是非法的。然而，这片土地的所有者过去两个月来一直无视墨西哥文物组织的停工令。许多墨西哥人对官员没能保护好特奥蒂瓦坎遗址感到愤怒，这里每年会有大量游客来参观。
Reuters news agency was unable to find or question the owner, whose name has not been made public.
路透社无法找到或采访这位土地所有者，他的名字没有被公开。
Rogelio Rivero Chong is the director of Teotihuacan's archeological area. He said the failure by police to stop the project showed the property owner's "total impunity."
里维罗（Rogelio Rivero Chong）是特奥蒂瓦坎古城的负责人。他说，警方未能阻止该项目，表明这位土地所有者没有受到任何惩罚。
In late April, the INAH brought a complaint to the government. Federal prosecutors charged the owner with "damage to archeological patrimony." In recent weeks, the INAH documented ongoing building in the area by 60 workers. That information came from Mexico's Cultural Ministry. However, the prosecutors' office did not answer Reuters' questions about the case.
今年4月下旬，墨西哥文物组织向政府投诉。联邦检察官指控这位土地所有者破坏考古遗址。最近几周，墨西哥文物组织证实有60名工人仍在该地区施工。这些信息来自于墨西哥文化部。然而，检察官办公室没有回应路透社有关此案的疑问。
Teotihuacan is about 50 kilometers northeast of Mexico City. It once was home to about 100,000 people who mostly lived in colorful stone houses.
特奥蒂瓦坎古城位于墨西哥城东北约50公里处。这里曾经是大约10万人的家园，他们大多住在五颜六色的石头房里。
People lived in that city at about the same time that Mayan culture had reached a high level to the south. But Teotihuacan is known for its own art and architecture. It grew rich for a period of 600 years until about 550 because of trading with other cities. It had an economy built on creating goods such as clothing and metal blades, or knives.
在这座城市生活的人们大约与南方的玛雅文明是同一个时期，当时玛雅文明达到了较高的水平。但是特奥蒂瓦坎凭借其自身艺术和建筑而闻名。由于跟其它城市贸易，它在600年的时间里繁荣兴盛，直到大约550年前。它的经济建立在诸如服装制作、金属刀具等商品的基础上。
Rivero Chong said officials have struggled for years to stop illegal building. The building is often done at night and local government officials often arrive too late, he said.
里维罗（Rivero Chong）表示，官员们多年来一直在努力打压非法建筑。他说，这些建筑通常在晚上施工，当地政府官员通常来得太晚。
A tall wall surrounds the illegal building area. It is in what is believed to be one of the ancient city's oldest parts. A past archeological report said the area held at least three temples and 25 other ancient buildings.
一堵高墙围绕着违章建筑区域。它被认为是古城最古老的一部分。过去的考古报告称，该地区拥有至少3座寺庙和25座其它古建筑。
Teotihuacan was named a world heritage site by the United Nations cultural agency, UNESCO, in 1987. The naming requires government protection of the area, said Rivero Chong.
特奥蒂瓦坎于1987年被联合国教科文组织列为世界遗产。Rivero Chong指出，这一举措要求政府对该地区进行保护。
In recent days, a number of leading archeological experts have asked the government to act. "For me, this really hurts," said Linda Manzanilla. She is a Teotihuacan archeologist with Mexico's National Autonomous University.
近几日，一些权威考古专家要求政府采取行动。琳达·曼萨尼拉（Linda Manzanilla）表示：“对我来说，这真的很心痛。”她是墨西哥国立自治大学的特奥蒂瓦坎考古专家。
During one of her projects there in the 1980s, she found a housing complex in Oztoyahualco where workers once lived. It was next to a workshop near the three temples that are now under threat.
上世纪80年在该地的一个考古项目期间，她在欧兹托雅胡科（Oztoyahualco）发现了一个工人曾居住的住宅区。这个区域紧邻现在受到威胁的3座寺庙附近的一处厂区。
She said the latest illegal building is in an area just west of the Moon Pyramid. Near the illegal work, other research has found beautifully colored ancient buildings that were created around the central spaces of the city.
她说，最新的非法建筑工程位于月亮金字塔以西的一处区域。在非法工程周围，其它研究发现了围绕城市中心建造的色彩各异的古建筑。
"It's very likely that there are very large complexes there," she said.
她说：“那里可能拥有极其庞大的建筑群。”