There are many cities in this world that are remembered or visited because the grandeur, beauty, eclectic atmosphere and uniqueness are evident in those places. But when it comes to ancient cities, few are remembered for their traits and most are remembered just because an important historical event took place there or maybe, it bore witness to a war and it became a battlefield where many lost their lives. But Tenochtitlan, the ancient Aztec city is different.
Tenochtitlan is remembered with awe and many people are still curious about it until today. The first Europeans who came to this city probably couldn’t believe what they saw with their eyes when they first saw this place. Rock monuments, stone buildings and causeways littered the sprawling city. And what’s more, the buildings that these Europeans saw literally looked like they rose from the water. There are also well built dams around the city which protect this flouring city from floods. Here’s an in depth glimpse to this beautiful ancient city called Tenochtitlan, that the Aztec people called their home.
Where was Tenochtitlan built?
The first wave of immigrants that would be known as the Aztecs, were not the first people who came to the Valley of Mexico. So the Aztecs really had the worst pickings when it came to choice of land. But that didn’t stop these people from building a city that would come to be one of the most beautiful in the continent. The city was built on the lake Texcoco. Tenochtitlan grew into a big and beautiful city and at the same time, the population and the power of the Aztecs grew too. The city of Tenochtitlan was undoubtedly one of the most organized and cleanest cities to be found. According to Hernan Cortes, the conqueror himself, the city itself was very big and was comparable to Seville in Spain. All the main roads were large and perfectly sized and the smaller streets were half land, half water, thus enabling small canoes to come and go too. No doubt the city was very impressive and the Aztecs took pride in their beautiful city. It is said that the whole city was estimated as 13 kilometers. But the city of Tenochtitlan was always expanding to the north or to the south and that’s why there were lots of causeways from the north or south leading to the mainland where the main markets and other places could be found. Since the city was founded on a lake, it is not unbelievable that a dike was built. Reportedly, the ruler Nezahualcoyotl designed this dike. The dike kept the water surrounding the city clean and the brackish waters out. This dike was constructed during Moctezuma the First’s reign.The city was grouped into four zones which were called Campan. You can see the four zones in the Tenochtitlan map below. All Campans had twenty districts each and each district was crossed by streets. This city is definitely made by great rulers and even greater people. Each district or calpulli had its own market where many Aztecs went to barter and buy products like cloth, food and other necessities. But the main market was not in Tenochtitlan; it was in Tlatelco, Tenochtitlan’s sister city. This market attracted more than 50,000 people a day and lots of items, products or services can be found there.
Maps of Tenochtitlan are only accurate to a certain point, since we do not have any maps that would originate from that area. Maps that we have are mostly drawn on the base of archaeological exploration and Spanish records.
The same stands for pictures of Tenochtitlan. Pictures that are available are of course not the the Aztec times, they are only an estimate of what the city probably looked like. Again the pictures are drawn from the knowledge of the Aztec civilization and their construction methods (like Aztec temples), archaeological exploration, Spanish records etc… One such picture of Tenochtitlan is the following: