Tenochtitlan and the intents of the conquistadors

Hello again,

This week´s destination of choice is the ancient Aztec city of Tenochtitlan; a place we know today as Mexico City. During the colonization of Mexico, the City of Tenochtitlan was destroyed in order to build a Spanish colonial empire. The following blog will examine the relationship between size and scale of Tenochtitlan and the modern day capital as well as the reasons for the destructions and reconstruction by the Spaniards.

Tenochtitlan was a city of great economic wealth, political power, as well as a great religious center.  Unfortunately, today the ruins of this once great city now lay under the Plaza de la Constitución at the heart of Mexico City.  Evidence has shown that the ceremonial precinct of Tenochtitlan is directly located underneath the modern day plaza. The Plaza itself is one of the largest in the world and since it is built directly on top of the old plaza it can only be a direct co-relation in size of the Aztec city center. In Pre-colonial days, the Aztec city would have to have been large enough to host an enormous crowd from all over Mesoamerica. The ceremonial precinct would have also held a large ball court, temples of the most important gods, a grand palace for the elite, and administration buildings. The modern plaza consists of more or less the same types of buildings but in different forms. It has a grand Cathedral, a National Palace, and various government buildings.

To the Aztec rulers, Tenochtitlan and its monuments were a symbol of their wealth, power and legitimacy. To the Aztec people it was a testament of their beliefs. To the Spanish, Tenochtitlan was a sight to behold as well as the power and resourcefulness of their adversaries. They knew that if they could not defeat the Aztec empire, that they would not be able to colonize Central America. Therefore by destroying Tenochtitlan and rebuilding a colonial version they were sending a message of who was in charge. Furthermore, for the purpose of colonizing and ¨civilizing¨ the natives, it was important for them to destroy the Aztec cult figures in order to prove that their gods were not as powerful as they thought.