Tenochtitlán: History of Aztec Capital. A Very interesting Article

I came a cross this in my constant search for new information on history. Very interesting article, in my opinion.

Tenochtitlán was an Aztec city that flourished between A.D. 1325 and 1521. Built on an island on Lake Texcoco, it had a system of canals and causeways that supplied the hundreds of thousands of people who lived there. It was largely destroyed by the Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés after a siege in 1521, and modern-day Mexico City now lies over much of its remains. In a 1520 letter written to King Charles I of Spain, Cortés described the city that he would soon attack: “The city is as big as Seville or Cordoba. The main streets are very wide and very straight; some of these are on the land, but the rest and all the smaller ones are half on land, half canals where they paddle their canoes.” (From "An Age of Voyages: 1350-1600," by Mary Wiesner-Hanks, Oxford University Press, 2005)

www.livescience.com...

I get goes on to describe the rise and fall of a great civilization that later became the Capital of Mexico.

Origins of Tenochtitlán According to legend, the Aztec people left their home city of Aztlan nearly 1,000 years ago. Scholars do not know where Aztlan was, but according to ancient accounts one of these Aztec groups, known as the Mexica, founded Tenochtitlán in 1325. The legend continues that Huitzilopochtli, the god of war, the sun and human sacrifice, is said to have directed the Mexica to settle on the island. He “ordered his priests to look for the prickly pear cactus and build a temple in his honor. They followed the order and found the place on an island in the middle of the lake ...” writes University of Madrid anthropologist Jose Luis de Rojas in his book "Tenochtitlán: Capital of the Aztec Empire" (University of Florida Press, 2012). De Rojas notes that the “early years were difficult.” People lived in huts, and the temple for Huitzilopochtli “was made of perishable material.” Also in the beginning, Tenochtitlán was under the sway of another city named Azcapotzalco, to which they had to pay tribute. Political instability at Azcapotzalco, combined with an alliance with the cities of Texcoco and Tlacopan, allowed the Tenochtitlán ruler Itzcoatl (reign 1428-1440) to break free from Azcapotzalco’s control and assert the city’s independence.

An example of colonialism at it's finest . Technology wins every time.


Great article and something to think about in our modern world.

Is technology really that great?

originally posted by: Groot
I came a cross this in my constant search for new information on history. Very interesting article, in my opinion.

Tenochtitlán was an Aztec city that flourished between A.D. 1325 and 1521. Built on an island on Lake Texcoco, it had a system of canals and causeways that supplied the hundreds of thousands of people who lived there. It was largely destroyed by the Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés after a siege in 1521, and modern-day Mexico City now lies over much of its remains. In a 1520 letter written to King Charles I of Spain, Cortés described the city that he would soon attack: “The city is as big as Seville or Cordoba. The main streets are very wide and very straight; some of these are on the land, but the rest and all the smaller ones are half on land, half canals where they paddle their canoes.” (From "An Age of Voyages: 1350-1600," by Mary Wiesner-Hanks, Oxford University Press, 2005)

www.livescience.com...

I get goes on to describe the rise and fall of a great civilization that later became the Capital of Mexico.

Origins of Tenochtitlán According to legend, the Aztec people left their home city of Aztlan nearly 1,000 years ago. Scholars do not know where Aztlan was, but according to ancient accounts one of these Aztec groups, known as the Mexica, founded Tenochtitlán in 1325. The legend continues that Huitzilopochtli, the god of war, the sun and human sacrifice, is said to have directed the Mexica to settle on the island. He “ordered his priests to look for the prickly pear cactus and build a temple in his honor. They followed the order and found the place on an island in the middle of the lake ...” writes University of Madrid anthropologist Jose Luis de Rojas in his book "Tenochtitlán: Capital of the Aztec Empire" (University of Florida Press, 2012). De Rojas notes that the “early years were difficult.” People lived in huts, and the temple for Huitzilopochtli “was made of perishable material.” Also in the beginning, Tenochtitlán was under the sway of another city named Azcapotzalco, to which they had to pay tribute. Political instability at Azcapotzalco, combined with an alliance with the cities of Texcoco and Tlacopan, allowed the Tenochtitlán ruler Itzcoatl (reign 1428-1440) to break free from Azcapotzalco’s control and assert the city’s independence.

An example of colonialism at it's finest . Technology wins every time.


Great article and something to think about in our modern world.

Is technology really that great?

I've been to Mexico City twice, and visited what little is left of the ruins, as well as the amazing anthropology museum there that houses a lot of Aztec artifacts, and a huge model of the ancient city.

The destruction of Tenochtitlán might be one of the greatest archaeological losses of all time. The Spanish were shocked by the City when they encountered it.

a reply to: Quetzalcoatl14

You are one lucky person who has been there and appreciates what was lost.

Thank you for sharing your story.

It's sad.

a reply to: Groot

It's a very good article you posted groot, i like stuff about history. There's a lot of unanswered questions still about a lot of things.

The History of Mexico and South America is right there in the places of shock and awe. the Astecs, the Inca, and Mayans, three Masterful groups of people with many clues left behind. This is one place of many on this rock that boggles the mind...

Well, while it is sad that a civilisation fell at the hands of the Spanish, the Aztec civilisation was particularly brutal and violent. It lived and died violently.

I am not an apologist for Spanish colonialism, but the destruction of the Aztecs probably did the world a favour in the long run. Even the Spanish did not do mass human sacrifice - 80,000 in one go must have been a sight to see.

Regardless, they do have some amazing artefacts that are fascinating today.

a reply to: Groot

Are you suggesting that any civilized people who would have run across such a blood thirsty culture had it not been Spain wouldn't have done the exact same thing as the Conquistadors? The Aztecs were savages who took over may of their cities from those who came before them. They were conquerors. ...JUST LIKE THE SPAINISH. They deserved to be wiped out....do you think society today would grant them religious freedom to murder and kill to appease the gods? LOL

originally posted by: paraphi
Well, while it is sad that a civilisation fell at the hands of the Spanish, the Aztec civilisation was particularly brutal and violent. It lived and died violently.

I am not an apologist for Spanish colonialism, but the destruction of the Aztecs probably did the world a favour in the long run. Even the Spanish did not do mass human sacrifice - 80,000 in one go must have been a sight to see.

Regardless, they do have some amazing artefacts that are fascinating today.

I can agree with you on the brutality of the Aztecs, as many civilizations were brutal in the beginning. But the history and knowledge lost due to that ,in my opinion, out weighs that. Eventually they would have become more civilized, but that was abruptly ended.

originally posted by: Oathkeeper73
a reply to: Groot

Are you suggesting that any civilized people who would have run across such a blood thirsty culture had it not been Spain wouldn't have done the exact same thing as the Conquistadors? The Aztecs were savages who took over may of their cities from those who came before them. They were conquerors. ...JUST LIKE THE SPAINISH. They deserved to be wiped out....do you think society today would grant them religious freedom to murder and kill to appease the gods? LOL

Dude, my opinion is if they were allowed to continue on, they may have grown and became more civilized.

Just look at any budding civilization in the beginning.

How brutal were the Native American Indians before being almost wiped out by the white man?

a reply to: Groot

I dare you to pronounce that name 3 times really, really fast!

originally posted by: Groot
I get goes on to describe the rise and fall of a great civilization that later became the Capital of Mexico.

What about the other side of the story? The Aztecs practised human sacrifice- did the subject peoples who supplied the victims think it was a "great" civilisation?
The Aztecs were a "colonial" empire in their own right, so anyone who thinks that colonial empires are a bad thing should be applauding their defeat.

originally posted by: GeauxHomeYoureDrunk
a reply to: Groot

I dare you to pronounce that name 3 times really, really fast!

LOL !

I dare you !