The Mexica were skilled architects and builders, and they created a remarkable urban environments of the pre-Columbian Americas. The capital Tenochtitlan, with its Templo Mayor, its sacred precinct, its palaces, and its chinampa suburbs, was the largest city in the Americas when the Spanish conquest, with a population of perhaps 200,000 people. The city was connected to the mainland by three great causeways, each of which was several kilometers long and was built of stone and earth. The city was supplied with fresh water by an aqueduct that brought water from the springs of Chapultepec, and it was protected from flooding by a great dyke that separated the salty waters of Lake Texcoco from the freshwater lake to the west.
The Templo Mayor
The Templo Mayor was the religious and political center of Tenochtitlan, and it was one of the largest and most impressive religious structures of pre-Columbian America. The temple was a double pyramid, with two shrines on top, one dedicated to Huitzilopochtli, the war god and the patron of the Mexica, and the other to Tlaloc, the rain god. The two shrines were connected by a single platform, and the temple was approached by two parallel staircases that led up the front of the pyramid.
The Templo Mayor was rebuilt and enlarged seven times during the history of Tenochtitlan, and the final version, completed in 1487 under the reign of Ahuitzotl, was the largest and most impressive. The final version was about 60 meters tall, and it was built of stone and stucco. The temple was decorated with stone sculptures, including the great Coyolxauhqui Stone, which depicts the dismembered body of the moon goddess, and with the heads of sacrificial victims mounted on a great skull rack, the tzompantli, that stood beside the temple.
The Templo Mayor was the venue for the most important religious ceremonies of the year, including the monthly festivals of the veintenas, the New Fire Ceremony, and the dedicatory sacrifices performed when a new temple was built. The most famous of these dedications was the one performed in 1487, when the seventh and final version of the Templo Mayor was dedicated. According to some sources, this dedication involved the sacrifice of thousands of victims over a period of several days, though modern scholars are skeptical of the highest figures.
The Pyramid Form
The Mexica used the pyramid form for a wide range of structures, from the great temple of the capital to the local temples of the calpulli. The Mexica pyramids were typically built of stone and earth, and they were faced with a layer of stucco that was often painted in bright colors. The pyramids were typically built in stages, with each stage corresponding to a reign of a Tlatoani or to a major event in the history of the state. The construction of a pyramid was a major undertaking, and it required the labor of thousands of workers over a period of years.
The Mexica pyramid was typically a stepped pyramid, with a flat top that supported a temple or a shrine. The most distinctive form of the Mexica pyramid was the double pyramid, with two shrines on top, one dedicated to a male deity and the other to a female deity. The double pyramid was a particularly important form, and it was used for the Templo Mayor and for several other major temples.
The Mexica also built a range of other pyramid forms, including the single pyramid, with one shrine on top, the circular pyramid, and the radial pyramid, with multiple staircases. The radial pyramid was a particularly impressive form, and it was used for several major temples, including the temple of Quetzalcoatl at Tenayuca, the temple of Ehécatl at Texcoco, and the great pyramid of Cholula.
The Urban Plan of Tenochtitlan
Tenochtitlan was planned on a grid pattern, with the streets and canals arranged in a regular fashion. The city was divided into four quarters, each associated with one of the four Mexica lineages, and the quarters were separated by four main causeways that radiated out from the sacred precinct. The sacred precinct was located at the center of the city, and it contained the Templo Mayor, the tzompantli, the coacalco, the calmecac, and the temples of the other major gods.
The residential areas of Tenochtitlan were organized into calpulli, each with its own temple, its own market, and its own officials. The houses of the commoners were typically built of adobe and thatch, while the houses of the nobility were built of stone. The houses were arranged around patios, and they were often decorated with murals and gardens. The streets of Tenochtitlan were narrow and winding, and they were often flanked by canals that were used for transportation and for the irrigation of the chinampas.
The Engineering of Tenochtitlan
The Mexica were skilled engineers, and they developed a range of techniques for the construction of the city. The most impressive engineering project was the great dyke of Nezahualcoyotl, which separated the salty waters of Lake Texcoco from the freshwater lake to the west. The dyke was built of stone and earth, and it was several kilometers long. The dyke allowed the Mexica to control the level of the lake and to prevent the salty water from contaminating the freshwater that was used for drinking and for the irrigation of the chinampas.
The Mexica also built a network of causeways that connected the island of Tenochtitlan to the mainland. There were three main causeways, each of which was several kilometers long. The causeways were built of stone and earth, and they had bridges that could be raised to allow the passage of canoes. The causeways were used for transportation and for the movement of armies, and they were central to the urban infrastructure of Tenochtitlan.
The Mexica also built a great aqueduct that brought fresh water from the springs of Chapultepec to the city. The aqueduct was a remarkable engineering achievement, and it required the construction of a series of channels, tunnels, and bridges. The aqueduct was built in two stages, the first under the reign of Moctezuma I and the second under the reign of Ahuitzotl, and it was a remarkable water supply systems of the pre-Columbian Americas.
The Destruction and the Rediscovery
The Spanish conquest brought the destruction of Tenochtitlan, and the Spanish systematically destroyed the Mexica temples and palaces. The Templo Mayor was destroyed, and the Cathedral of Mexico City was built on or near its site. The Mexica sculptures and other artifacts were buried under the rubble of the destroyed buildings, and they remained hidden for centuries.
The ruins of Tenochtitlan were rediscovered in the twentieth century, when electrical workers digging in central Mexico City in 1978 discovered a great stone disk, the Coyolxauhqui Stone, depicting the dismembered body of the moon goddess. The discovery led to a major archaeological project, the Templo Mayor Project, which has uncovered the remains of the great temple and many of the surrounding structures. The Templo Mayor Museum, located next to the ruins, houses one of the most important collections of Mexica art in the world.
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See also:
- How were Aztec pyramids built? — the construction techniques
- What was the significance of double pyramids? — the twin shrines
- What were the typical features of Aztec temples? — the architectural elements
- Founding of Tenochtitlan — the city that contained the temple
- Chinampas and Aztec Agricultural Innovation — the agriculture around the city
- Aztec Art, Architecture, and Science — the broader context