Mexico City Page 2

Templo Mayor of Tenochtitlan

According to legend, the Aztecs were told by a god to find a place where an eagle stood upon a cactus with a snake in its beak, and there, to build their city Tenochtitlan, the Aztec capital that was to become epicentre of power for the powerful Aztec Empire.

It was built beginning in the year 1390 AD, and destroyed by the Spanish conquistadors in 1521. It was accidentally discovered in 1978, when some electricity workers unearthed an 8-ton stone disc of Coyolxauqui ("Koh-yowl-shau-kwee"), an Aztec goddess. Further exploration revealed that there was an entire archaeological wonder lying beneath Mexico City's streets. They had discovered the lost Aztec city of Tenochtitlan, which is underneath the center of modern-day Mexico City. A decision was made to demolish some old colonial buildings, to reveal the Templo Mayor (Main Temple) - the place where it is believed the Aztecs saw the sign given to them by their gods; today it is still Mexico's national symbol: an eagle perched on a cactus with a snake in its beak.

Links:

Metmuseum (pretty good)

Planetware (better)

Official Templo Mayor website (good photo site, but loads slowly)


Aerial view from Metmuseum	Templo Mayor Map adapted from Planetware

Serpent	Chaac Mool

Templo Mayor walls. You can see that it is several sets of concentric walls, that it is below current ground level, and how close it is to the rest of the city

The wall of skulls

Wall of skulls click on photo to see details	Full sized replica of the disk that was the initial discovery