Tenochtitlan is a city-state located on the site of the modern city of Mexico City. According to legend, the god of the sun and war Huitzilopochtli told the "mexico" (Aztecs) Indians to found the city of Tenochtitlan on the spot where they would see a picture - an eagle on a cactus would hold a snake in its claws. Such an opportunity was given to them already after 130 years of wandering in the southern lands of North America, when on one of the islands of Lake Texcoco the Indians saw an eagle holding a snake in its claws.
Tenochtitlan - the capital of the Aztecs
According to a more realistic version, the Meshika tribe came to the Mexico City Valley from the north - from the lands now owned by the United States. At that time, the entire territory of the valley was divided among local tribes, and, naturally, none of them wanted to share the land with the aliens. After consulting, the local leaders decided to give the aliens a desert island on Lake Texcoco. There were many snakes on the island, so the locals expected the aliens on the island to have a hard time. Arriving on the island, the Aztecs saw that many snakes live on it, and they were very happy about this, since snakes were their food. As a good omen, the Aztecs also saw the eagle holding a snake in its paws. According to the Aztecs, this symbolized the triumph of good over evil. Thus, around 1325,On an island in the middle of the salt lake of Texcoco, Tenochtitlan was founded (translated from the Aztec - "house of the cactus rock"), and in 1337, north of Tenochtitlan, a detached part of the tribe founded the satellite town of Tlatelolco.
The city grew rapidly: 7.5 square kilometers and 100,000 inhabitants - these were the indicators of its growth approximately 100 years after its foundation. And over the next 100 years, the city expanded to 13.5 square kilometers, which housed up to 212,500 inhabitants (according to other sources, up to 350,000 and even up to 500,000 inhabitants). The Spanish governor, appointed by Cortez, spoke of the city's million people.
The city had many canals and lakes, so it was not uncommon to get around by boat, as in modern Venice. Tenochtitlan itself was surrounded by countless dams and bridges that barred it from streams.
Tenochtitlan was divided into four quarters: Teopan, Moyotlan, Quepopan and Astacalco. In the middle of the city there was a ritual center surrounded by the protective wall of Coatepantli (Serpentine Wall). The city was built up with temples, schools, office buildings and houses. Due to the loose soil, buildings were erected on long piles.
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Attractions in Tenochtitlan
There were many interesting architectural structures in the city. The city of Tenochtitlan is decorated with:
Great pyramid. The pyramidal temple reached a height of 45 meters. Its facade was directed strictly to the west. A wide double staircase, consisting of 114 steps, led to the top of the temple, where two smaller temples were located on the site. These are the temples of two dominant gods: Tlaloc - the god of rain and Uitzilopochtli - the god of the sun and war. Subsequently, after the Great Pyramid was destroyed, the stone blocks of the temple were used by the Spaniards to erect a Catholic cathedral - the largest in the entire territory of America. During its new history, the Great Pyramid has gone through several stages of excavation. During recent research, many stone statues and masks of Tlaloc have been found, however, archaeologists have not been able to find images of Witzilopochtli. According to the Spanish chronicles,his images were made of a special material - dough and seeds, and, therefore, decomposed long ago. It is currently open to the public and is located on Zocalo, to the right of the Mexico City Cathedral.
Tlatoani Palace. The palace complex consisted of a dozen stone one-story buildings. In appearance, the complex was a combination of external and internal courtyards, as well as premises for various purposes. So, in buildings, in addition to the dwellings of the nobility and the premises of Tlatoani, there were court rooms and council meetings. In total, the palace consisted of about three hundred rooms. The Spaniards wrote in their chronicles that it was easy to get lost on the territory of the palace complex. All entrances and exits to the palace complex, of which there were about 20, were connected to several patios. The palace was located outside the ritual center. The palace complex, like the ancient capital of America itself, had its own infrastructure. With him were: an arsenal, a courthouse, council buildings, a weaving workshop where women sewed clothes for the emperor and his family,jewelers? metal craftsmen, and other artisans. Animals and birds alone were looked after by about five hundred servants.
In addition to the Tlatoani Palace, the Ashayakatl Palace was located on the territory of the city. The back of the building overlooked the main pyramid of the Aztec capital. The palace was huge and served as a treasury, and also a temple. Ashayakatl's palace had no less halls and rooms than the imperial residence. The rooms of the palace could easily accommodate several thousand visitors. The most notable room of the palace was the walled up treasury created by the father of Montezuma II and subsequently plundered by the Spaniards.
Tsompantli. It was an amphitheater-shaped structure with rows of skulls set with the teeth outward. Tsompantli was located not far from the main gate of the Aztec pyramid. At the end of the building there were two towers erected from building mixtures and ksotey. At the top of the towers there were pins on which the skulls of the defeated soldiers were planted. Also on the ritual square of the capital of the Aztec state there was a building in the form of a tower. The entrance to it was guarded by two stone structures in the form of heads with open mouths. Inside the building were kept knives for sacrifices, cauldrons and utensils for cooking sacrificial meat, and other ceremonial utensils.
The main market of the city. The market area was surrounded by arcades and could accommodate from 25 to 50 thousand visitors. The market was so large that its noise was heard throughout the capital of the Aztecs. The market was open seven days a week. A separate place was allocated for each type of trade, and the most important goods were supplied with their own trading platforms. The Aztecs had no money and the function of the volute was performed by cocoa beans, corn, slaves and other important goods.
City dams. Tenochtitlan was surrounded on all sides by Lake Texcoco. However, the construction of dams was not so much a necessary measure as an opportunity to make life easier. The dams were built gradually, in several stages. Dykes were built of earth and wood. Almost all the dams served for movement along them, but some performed their direct function - they held back the water that comes during the rainy season. The largest dam was 9 kilometers long.
Despite the fact that the Aztec capital was a huge city, most of the peasants lived on the outskirts of the city. Families lived in groups called calpulli. Each Tenochtitlan clan fought in a separate residential area, consisting of many one-story houses - huts. The houses were mostly huts, made of silt, twigs and other materials at hand. Despite the large number of inhabitants, the capital of the Aztec empire did not suffer from overpopulation. In one house lived from two to 6 people. The married couple occupied one house or a large room in rare two-story buildings.
Aztec capital Tenochtitlan and the arrival of the Spaniards
In the XV-XVI centuries, the capital of the Aztecs, Tenochtitlan, became one of the most beautiful cities in the Western Hemisphere. Apparently, it was then one of the largest in the world: the population by the beginning of the 16th century was almost 500 thousand people, a colossal figure at that time. This majestic city managed to exist for about two centuries. The Spanish conquistadors led by Hernan Cortes, who arrived in Tenochtitlan on November 8, 1519, were amazed at the splendor of the huge city.
According to one of the Spaniards who arrived on the island, “no one has ever seen, heard, or even dreamed of something like what we saw then.” The Aztecs - far from a peaceful people - subjugated most of their neighbors by military force, but the Spaniards were greeted surprisingly cordially, because according to an ancient legend, the bearded, light-faced and white-skinned god Quetzalcoatl, expelled by the Indians, was supposed to return exactly in the year of the cane rod, and Cortez and his comrades took it for him.
Cortez's policy, however, led to a conflict: a rebellion broke out, and the Spaniards had to flee from Tenochtitlan on the night of July 1, which later became known as the "Night of Sorrow". Defeated, Cortez did not even think to give up. Having replenished the army with people and weapons, he launched a new offensive against the Aztec capital - Mexico City, as the Spaniards called Tenochtitlan then and on May 13, 1521, after a seventy-day siege, the city fell. So the history of one city ended and the history of another began.
You can read about other ancient cities of Central America in our articles about Palenque, Chichen Itza and Machu Picchu.