12/10/2024
Tenochtitlán (not to be confused with Teotihuacan) was one of the greatest cities in history and must have been a sight to behold in its day. It was founded by the Mexica people in c. AD 1325. According to legend, the Mexica people had a vision of an eagle eating a snake on top of a cactus, and believing it to be a sign from the gods, they founded Tenochtitlán on the spot. Over time the city developed to become the capital of the Aztec Empire, which formed from an alliance of three city-states—Tenochtitlán, Tetzcoco, and Tlacopan.
Tenochtitlán was built on an island and several smaller artificial islands near the western shore of Lake Texcoco. The city had causeways and canals for access and an estimated 200,000 or more people living there at its peak, making it one of the largest cities in the world at the time, and the largest city in the pre-Columbian Americas. Aqueducts supplied the city with water and there was a huge marketplace that attracted thousands of people daily. There were also zoos, aquariums, palaces, and pyramid temples, most notably the Templo Mayor, which was dedicated to the gods, Huitzilopochtli and Tlaloc.
When the Spanish first laid eyes on Tenochtitlán, many of them wondered if they were dreaming. According to Spanish conquistador Bernal Díaz del Castillo (c. 1492 - 1584):
"When we saw so many cities and villages built in the water and other great towns on dry land we were amazed and said that it was like the enchantments in the book of Amadis on account of the great towers and cues and buildings rising from the water, and all built of masonry. And some of our soldiers even asked whether the things that we saw were not a dream.... I do not know how to describe it, seeing things as we did that had never been heard of or seen before, not even dreamed about."
In 1521 the Spanish laid siege to Tenochtitlán and the Aztec Emperor, Cuauhtémoc, attempted to flee but he was captured by Hernán Cortés and tortured. The soles of his feet were burned over hot coal in the hope that he would reveal the location of vast amounts of gold. But Cuauhtémoc revealed nothing and four years later he was hanged. He was the last Aztec emperor.
Much of Tenochtitlán was destroyed and the lake was eventually drained. The site is now Mexico city and much of the modern capital is built in what was once the lake, which at one time was home to what must have been one of history's greatest cities.
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📷Map of Tenochtitlan by Friedrich Peypus, printed c. 1524 in Nuremberg, Germany. Colorized woodcut. On the left, the Gulf of Mexico (South is at the top, part of Cuba left); on the right, Tenochtitlan with West at the top.
📷Mural by Diego Rivera of the Aztec city of Tenochtitlan and life in Aztec times.
