Colonial Mexico (March 2023)

City of Tenochtitlan

By Marla Laine Brown:

Once upon a time in the Valley of Anahuac there lived Indigenous groups who built grand temples to their gods. Then not so happily ever after in the 14th century these hunter-gatherers came to be dominated by a people known as the Mexica, otherwise known as the Aztecs.

The Aztecs had migrated to this “Land of Lakes” following their God of War Huitzilopochtli, who they believed had led them to their promised land. They erected magnificent pyramids and created islands in the middle of Lake Texcoco.

Comparable to the waterways of Venice, they also developed an extensive network of canals that connected the lakes in this prosperous region. The Aztecs called their new home “Tenochtitlan”. But what happened to the Aztecs and their land of Tenochtitlan? That was the question as we toured this historic center of Mexico City.

But what happened to the Aztecs and their land of Tenochtitlan? That was the question as we toured this historic center of Mexico City.

Mexico City, built atop Tenochtitlan, was the site of a bloody conquest in the early 16th century. The Spanish, driven by their quest for precious metals, toppled the Aztec empire and led to widespread starvation, disease, and internal conflicts that decimated the population. Despite the hardships, the Spanish established “New Spain” and exploited the land, desecrating ancient pyramids and temples by erecting cathedrals on these sacred sites.

Archeologists have excavated some of these ruins near the Zocalo in Mexico City. Specifically we got to view the excavation of the Templo Mayor, a 13th century Aztec temple, and the nearby mockups of Tenochtitlan.

Today Mexico City looks nothing like the ancient city of Tenochtitlan. The waterways, except for Xochimilco, have all but dried up. Cathedrals sit atop temples and skyscrapers abound with a metropolis larger then that of New York City. And the city is sinking. But perhaps I’ll save that story for another time.