MEXICO: The Aztec's Tenochtitlán Laid the Foundation for Mexico City

Underneath the streets of Mexico City’s Centro lies the ruins of Tenochtitlán, the ancient Aztec capital.

Aztec legend says the Mexica people were guided by their god Huitzilopochtli to settle where they saw an eagle perched on a cactus eating a snake.

Their journey lasted many years looking for this vision.

Then, in 1325 AD on an island in Lake Texcoco they found an eagle perched on a cactus eating a snake.

This spot became the foundation of the Aztec city of Tenochtitlán, the heart of their powerful empire.

Tenochtitlán's major temple, the Templo Major, is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

A bit of Mexican history here, for those who might have slept through it in school...... At its height in the early 16th century, the Aztec city of Tenochtitlán was one of the largest cities in the world with a population of between 200,000 and 250,000 people. It was comparable in size to major cities in Europe at the time. Including the surrounding cities and settlements that were part of the Aztec Empire, the total population of the area may have exceeded 1 million people.

 

 

At its heart stood the Templo Mayor, a massive pyramid dedicated to two gods. Huitzilopochtli, the god of war and the sun, and Tlaloc, the god of rain and fertility. 

 

The Templo Mayor ("Great Temple") was a massive structure serving as a center for Aztec worship, large-scale human sacrifices, ceremonies, and rituals. 

When the Spanish arrived in 1519, Hernán Cortés allied with other indigenous groups that were enemies of the powerful Aztecs in order to defeat them. After 2 years of brutal fighting and a devastating smallpox epidemic, Tenochtitlán fell to the Spaniards in 1521.

After the defeat of the Aztecs, Cortés ordered the dismantling of Tenochtitlán’s temples and buildings. Destroying the old city was both a practical resource for building materials, but, also an intentional act of dominance to demoralize the Aztecs.

The Spanish repurposed the stones and other materials to build their new key colonial buildings, such as the Metropolitan Cathedral, over top of where the Aztec's city had been.  

 

 

They built the Palacio Nacional, the Spanish colonial government buildings, now used by the Republic of Mexico's government and offices of the President.

You can see the same stones from the temple in the uncovered walls of the Cathedral.

 

Today this central area is called Zócalo, Mexico City’s central square.

As time elapsed and the city grew it continued to cover and forget the old Aztec city. For centuries, Tenochtitlán’s ruins lay silently under new buildings.

 

Until 1978 when workers stumbled upon a stone carving of Coyolxauhqui, the Aztec moon goddess. This discovery led to major excavations of the Templo Mayor and other parts of the ancient city behind the huge cathedral.

Archaeologists have since uncovered sacrificial altars, sculptures, and even parts of the original aqueduct system.

In Aztec culture snakes were often associated with fertility, rebirth, and power. Snake motifs were common in the carvings of the Templo Mayor, and they often adorned ceremonial altars and temple bases.

Frogs were symbols of water and fertility, essential to life and agriculture. Frog sculptures were typically found in areas associated with water rituals or offerings to ensure rains and agricultural prosperity.

What fascinated me was that the ancient Aztec ruins being uncovered were coexisting beside an entirely different Spanish Colonial centro. 

There is a museum in the excavation site with some of the more significant artifacts showcased. 

What started with the Aztec's search for the eagle eating a snake atop a cactus....

....led to this...

....which led to this.....

 And now looks like this....

 Playing host to people that look like this....

 

 

and this....

 

We still look like tourists.