Established during 1325 and declined after almost two centuries later, and in between those times, Tenochtitlan was one of the world's most magnificent cities; the name of the city was actually a name of the prickly pear plants which grew among the rocks near the site of its construction. Also known as Mexico Tenochtitlan, it is the capital of the Aztec empire as well as its most important city; Tenochtitlan was a majestic and without a doubt an incredible site to behold, not to mention its construction and flourishing represented nothing less than a prophecy come to perfect fruition, and even to the European conquerors who helped to eventually defeat it.
Teotihuacan was among the two of major altered (an Aztec word that signified a self-contained political unit) located in what is today Mexico City along with its sister city, Tlatelolco. Its centre was located on a small island facing the western side of Lake Texcoco and covers between 8 and 14 square kilometers. Teotichuacan was home to well over 200,000 souls at its peak. It was a truly world-class metropolis owing to its size, importance and population; in Europe, only the amazing and age old cities such as Paris, Seville, and Constantinople could be recognized as a worthy comparison.
The Condition Of The Land
A series of causeways connect the city centre to the mainland which pointed in each of the cardinal directions. They built bridges which allowed canoes as well as other river traffic to pass through and bridges can be removed for defensive purposes during war or siege. Moreover, the city centre was backed up by a canal network which made it possible for all areas of the city to be reached by means of canoe and even by foot.
A levee was constructed during the rule of Moctezuma. It worked by keeping the waters around Tenochitilan fresh, by means of feeding tem from surrounding spring water; the lake's normal component of partially salty water was stored behind a dike to the east. They also built double aqueducts which was made to supply the entire city with fresh water coming from springs at Chapultepec. Farming was carried out generally with the aid of chinampa - famously identified as "floating gardens", they were essentially man made islands, made by walling off rectangular areas of lake bed and overlaying them with sediment and fertilizer, generating suitable plots for growing squash, beans, tomatoes, maize, together with other well-known Mesoamerican crops.
Luxurious Palaces And Spectacular Temples
Tenochtitlan was separated into 20 districts, having three vast main streets crossing its whole width. Even though every single district had its own market (termed as a tiyanquztli in the Nahuatl language), the primary commercial centre of the region was just adjacent, in the sister city of Tlatloco - an enormous market which can hold together 60,000 individuals on ceremonial occasions.
Other than the incredible Moctezuma's temple, which contained its own aquarium, zoo and botanical gardens, several public buildings of Tenochtitlan included a number of temples, schools, and also a 300-meter wide walled centre for religious rituals. The Temple of Quetzelcoatl, the enormous Templo Mayor and a tlatchtli ball court are actually a few of the most famous buildings which have been excavated and rediscovered. Damaged by the Spanish invaders, its ruins had sunk into the soft lake bed sediment right until they were excavated during the 1980s, unveiling (among various other artifacts) enormous ceremonial discs and the priceless Aztec Calendar Stone. Monstrous as it may seem, the city was built with temples that are intended for sacrificial combat by ritual gladiators as well as tzompantli which are racks where skulls of dead gladiators and other sacrificial victims are displayed.
To some extent, Tenochtitlan grew to be like an impressive city as a result of the strange circumstances associated with its beginning. Their legend tells that just before Tenochtitlan was created, the Aztecs were a wandering culture; having been granted approval to be in Mexico's fertile valley, they harboured a prophecy that they would know the place to find the city that would definitely end up being their permanent dwelling place by the sight of a hawk eating a snake while perched on a cactus. The place where this mythical vision presented itself was less than ideal, according to all accounts; Tenochtitlan's future site was actually a little more than a tiny swampy island in a briny river delta. Nonetheless, it was the hardworking Aztecs who developed it, enhancing the small natural island to Mesoamerica's most significant polity, which began to reign over every adjoining settlement. Tenochtitlan would then end up being the lynchpin of Aztec religious and political unity, as well as the core of trade passages that expanded so far as the Gulf of Mexico as well as the Pacific Ocean - and, as believed by some experts, they have reached the very door of their southern neighbors, the Incas, which paved the way for the creation of the hemisphere's first intercontinental economic route.
Teotihuacan was among the two of major altered (an Aztec word that signified a self-contained political unit) located in what is today Mexico City along with its sister city, Tlatelolco. Its centre was located on a small island facing the western side of Lake Texcoco and covers between 8 and 14 square kilometers. Teotichuacan was home to well over 200,000 souls at its peak. It was a truly world-class metropolis owing to its size, importance and population; in Europe, only the amazing and age old cities such as Paris, Seville, and Constantinople could be recognized as a worthy comparison.
The Condition Of The Land
A series of causeways connect the city centre to the mainland which pointed in each of the cardinal directions. They built bridges which allowed canoes as well as other river traffic to pass through and bridges can be removed for defensive purposes during war or siege. Moreover, the city centre was backed up by a canal network which made it possible for all areas of the city to be reached by means of canoe and even by foot.
A levee was constructed during the rule of Moctezuma. It worked by keeping the waters around Tenochitilan fresh, by means of feeding tem from surrounding spring water; the lake's normal component of partially salty water was stored behind a dike to the east. They also built double aqueducts which was made to supply the entire city with fresh water coming from springs at Chapultepec. Farming was carried out generally with the aid of chinampa - famously identified as "floating gardens", they were essentially man made islands, made by walling off rectangular areas of lake bed and overlaying them with sediment and fertilizer, generating suitable plots for growing squash, beans, tomatoes, maize, together with other well-known Mesoamerican crops.
Luxurious Palaces And Spectacular Temples
Tenochtitlan was separated into 20 districts, having three vast main streets crossing its whole width. Even though every single district had its own market (termed as a tiyanquztli in the Nahuatl language), the primary commercial centre of the region was just adjacent, in the sister city of Tlatloco - an enormous market which can hold together 60,000 individuals on ceremonial occasions.
Other than the incredible Moctezuma's temple, which contained its own aquarium, zoo and botanical gardens, several public buildings of Tenochtitlan included a number of temples, schools, and also a 300-meter wide walled centre for religious rituals. The Temple of Quetzelcoatl, the enormous Templo Mayor and a tlatchtli ball court are actually a few of the most famous buildings which have been excavated and rediscovered. Damaged by the Spanish invaders, its ruins had sunk into the soft lake bed sediment right until they were excavated during the 1980s, unveiling (among various other artifacts) enormous ceremonial discs and the priceless Aztec Calendar Stone. Monstrous as it may seem, the city was built with temples that are intended for sacrificial combat by ritual gladiators as well as tzompantli which are racks where skulls of dead gladiators and other sacrificial victims are displayed.
To some extent, Tenochtitlan grew to be like an impressive city as a result of the strange circumstances associated with its beginning. Their legend tells that just before Tenochtitlan was created, the Aztecs were a wandering culture; having been granted approval to be in Mexico's fertile valley, they harboured a prophecy that they would know the place to find the city that would definitely end up being their permanent dwelling place by the sight of a hawk eating a snake while perched on a cactus. The place where this mythical vision presented itself was less than ideal, according to all accounts; Tenochtitlan's future site was actually a little more than a tiny swampy island in a briny river delta. Nonetheless, it was the hardworking Aztecs who developed it, enhancing the small natural island to Mesoamerica's most significant polity, which began to reign over every adjoining settlement. Tenochtitlan would then end up being the lynchpin of Aztec religious and political unity, as well as the core of trade passages that expanded so far as the Gulf of Mexico as well as the Pacific Ocean - and, as believed by some experts, they have reached the very door of their southern neighbors, the Incas, which paved the way for the creation of the hemisphere's first intercontinental economic route.
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