Everything about Tenochtitlan totally explained
Tenochtitlan (sometimes paired with
Mexico as
Mexico Tenochtitlan or
Tenochtitlan Mexico) was a
Nahua altepetl (
city-state) located on an island in
Lake Texcoco, in the
Valley of Mexico. Founded in 1325, it became the seat of
a growing empire in the 15th century, until being
defeated in 1521. It subsequently became a
cabecera of the
Viceroyalty of New Spain, and today the ruins of Tenochtitlan are located within
Mexico City,
Mexico.
Tenochtitlan was one of two
Mexica altepetl, the other being
Tlatelolco.
Geography
Tenochtitlan covered an estimated 8 to 13.5 square kilometers, situated on the western side of the shallow
Lake Texcoco.
In the time of Spanish conquest, Mexico City comprised Tenochtitlan and
Tlatelolco at the same time. Since then, the city extended from north to south from the north border of Tlatelolco to the
swamps (which by that time were gradually disappearing); to the west, the city ended more or less at the present location of Bucareli street.
It was connected to the mainland by causeways leading north, south, and west of the city. These causeways were interrupted by bridges that allowed canoes and other traffic to pass freely. The bridges could be pulled away if necessary to defend the city. The city itself was interlaced with a series of canals, so that all sections of the city could be visited either on foot or via canoe.
Lake Texcoco was the largest of the five interconnected lakes. An
endorheic lake, Lake Texcoco was
brackish. During the reign of
Moctezuma I, the "dike of
Nezahualcoyotl" was constructed, reputedly designed by Nezahualcoyotl himself. Estimated to be between 12 and 16 kilometers in length, the dike was completed circa 1453; the dike kept the spring-fed fresh water in the waters around Tenochtitlan and kept the brackish waters beyond the dike, to the east.
Two double
aqueducts, each more than four kilometres long and made of
terra cotta, provided the city with fresh water from the springs at
Chapultepec. This was intended mainly for cleaning and washing. For drinking, water from mountain springs was preferred. Most of the population liked to bathe twice a day; Moctezuma was said to take four baths a day. As soap they used the root of a plant called
copalxocotl (
saponaria americana); to clean their clothes they used the root of
metl, the
maguey. Also, the upper classes and pregnant women enjoyed the
temazcalli, which was similar to a
sauna bath and is still used in the south of Mexico; this was also popular in other Mesoamerican culture.
City plan
The city was divided into four zones or
campan, each
campan was divided on 20 districts (
calpullis,
Nahuatl calpōlli), and each
calpulli was crossed by streets or
tlaxilcalli. There were three main streets that crossed the city, each leading to one of the three causeways to the mainland;
Bernal Díaz del Castillo reported that they were wide enough for ten horses. The
calpullis were divided by channels used for transportation, with wood bridges that were removed at night.
Each
calpulli had some specialty in arts and craft. When each
calpulli offered some celebration, they tried to outdo the other calpullis. Even today, in the south part of Mexico City, the community organizations in charge of church festivities are called "
calpullis".
Marketplaces
Each
calpulli had its own
tiyanquiztli (marketplace), but there was also a main marketplace in
Tlatelolco - Tenochtitlan's sister city. Cortés estimated it was twice the size of the city of
Seville with about 60,000 people, trading daily.
Bernardino de Sahagún provides a more conservative population estimate of 20,000 on ordinary days and 40,000 on feast days. There were also specialized markets in the other central Mexican cities.
Public buildings
In the center of the city were the public buildings, temples and schools. Inside a walled square, 300 meters to a side, was the ceremonial center. There were about 45 public buildings including: the
main temple, the temple of Quetzalcoatl, the
ball game, the
tzompantli or rack of skulls, the temple of the sun, the platforms for the gladiatorial sacrifice, and some minor temples. Outside was the palace of Moctezuma with 100 rooms, each one with its own bath, for the lords and ambassadors of allies and conquered people. Also located nearby was the
cuicalli or house of the songs, and the
calmecac.
The city had a great symmetry. All constructions had to be approved by the
calmimilocatl, a functionary in charge of the city planning..
Palaces of Moctezuma
The palace of Moctezuma also had two houses or zoos, one for birds of prey and another for other birds, reptiles and mammals. About three hundred people were dedicated to the care of the animals. There was also a botanical garden and an aquarium. The aquarium had ten ponds of salt water and ten ponds of fresh water, containing fish and aquatic birds. Places like this also existed in
Texcoco,
Chapultepec, Huaxtepec (now called
Oaxtepec) and
Texcotzingo.
Inhabitants
Sahagún reported that the city also had beggars (only crippled people were allowed to beg), thieves and prostitutes. At night, in the dark alleys one could find scantily clad ladies with heavy makeup (they also painted their teeth), chewing
tzictli (
chicle, the original chewing gum) noisily to attract clients. There seems to have been another kind of women,
ahuianis, who had sexual relations with warriors. The Spaniards were surprised because they didn't charge for their work.
Bernal Díaz del Castillo was amazed to find latrines in private houses and a public latrine in the
tiyanquiztli and main streets. Small boats went through the city collecting garbage, and excrement was collected to be sold as fertilizer. About 1,000 men were dedicated to cleaning the city's streets.
For public purposes, and to be able to set the pace of official business, trumpets were sounded from the tops of the temples six times a day: at sunrise, later on in the morning, at midday, again in the mid-afternoon, after sunset, and at midnight.
History
Tenochtitlan was the capital city of the Aztec civilization, consisting of the Mexica (meh-SHEE-kah) people, founded in 1325. The state religion of the Aztec civilization awaited the fulfilment of an ancient prophecy: that the wandering tribes would find the destined site for a great city whose location would be signaled by an eagle eating a snake while perched atop a cactus. The Aztecs saw this vision on what was then a small swampy island in Lake Texcoco, a vision that's now immortalized in is
Mexico's coat of arms and on the
Mexican flag. Not deterred by the unfavourable terrain, they set about building their city, using the
chinampa system (misnamed as "floating gardens") for agriculture and to dry and expand the island.
A thriving culture developed, and the Aztec civilization came to dominate other tribes all around Mexico. The small natural island was perpetually enlarged as Tenochtitlan grew to become the largest and most powerful city in
Mesoamerica. Commercial routes were developed that brought goods from places as far as the
Gulf of Mexico, the
Pacific Ocean and perhaps even the
Inca Empire.
After a flood of Lake Tenochtitlan, the city was rebuilt under the rule of
Ahuitzotl in a style that made it one of the grandest ever in Mesoamerica.
Spanish conquistador
Hernán Cortés arrived in Tenochtitlan on
November 8,
1519. At this time it's believed that the city was one of the largest in the world; compared to Europe, only
Paris,
Venice and
Constantinople were larger. Some of the conquistadores had travelled as widely as
Venice and
Constantinople, and many said that Tenochtitlan was as large and fine a city as any they'd seen.
The most common estimates put the population at over 200,000 people. One of the few comprehensive academic surveys of Mesoamerican city and town sizes arrived at a population of 212,500 living on 13.5 square kilometres, although some popular sources put the number as high as 350,000.
Cortés and his men, aided in particular by the Confederacy of
Tlaxcala, eventually conquered the city on
August 13,
1521, after a
siege that lasted months in which much of the city was destroyed. (See:
Fall of Tenochtitlan)
After the conquest
Cortés subsequently ordered the city rebuilt, despite opposition, with a central area designated for Spanish use (the
traza). The outer Indian section, now dubbed
San Juan Tenochtitlan, continued to be governed by the previous indigenous elite and was divided into the same subdivisions as before, sans the Spanish area.
Ruins of Tenochtitlan
Some of the remaining ruins of Tenochtitlan's main temple, the
Templo Mayor, were uncovered during the construction of a metro line in the 1970s. A small portion has been excavated and is now open to visitors. Mexico City's
Zócalo, the
Plaza de la Constitución, is located at the location of Tenochtitlan's original central plaza and market, and many of the original
calzadas still correspond to modern streets in the city.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Tenochtitlan'.
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