Aztec and City

Jarrett Barber Mr. Slaughter 11/16/12 Tenochtitlan Tenochtitlan was the main urban center and capital of the Aztec empire. The urban center was founded in 1325 when the Aztec emperor yetterfly told some of his tribes to look for a plot for their new capital metropolis. He told them that the key for the urban center would be found when they apothegm an eagle eating a glide on top of a cactus. This symbolism is now on the Mexican rise up of arms and on the Mexican personal identification number (King). The tribes wondered around in what is now deport day Mexico City, looking for this strange site. They eventually came to the spot where they saw the scene.It happened on a small island in the middle of Lake Texacco. each(prenominal) of the surrounding area of the lake was all overwhelm land, further because they saw the eagle in that location, thats where the city was to be built. The construction of Tenochtitlan took tush downstairs the rule of four antithetic Azte c kings. They laid out the construction plans for the city on a grid, making the construction of the city more than easier and run smo new(prenominal). The city was linked to the mainland by three brocaded causeways the three divergent causeways pointed north, west, and south.The raised causeways had link in the middle of them to allow canoes and other traffic underneath the bridges could as well be raised up in case of an attack. The city had two aqueducts that were 2. 5 miles long to supply fresh pee from the springs of Chapultepec, though most of this body of water was utilize for bathing, washing dishes, and other various reasons (Stearns). about of the Tenochtitlan population bathed twice every day, but ruler Montezuma was rumored to bathe as legion(predicate) as 4 times a day.The people preferred their drinking water from the nearby mountain springs, as it was much cleaner. When it was at its biggest point, Tenochtitlan covered a bitty more than five square miles. A nd at the height of its existence, Tenochtitlans population was well-nigh 150,000 people (closely comparable to the size of the population of the city of Cordoba). Tenochtitlan was the largest city in Mesoamerica, but besides one of the largest in the military personnel (Tenochtitlan). The only two cities larger than this at the time were Paris and Constantinople which had populations of 300,000.The language of the city was Nahuatl, it was spoken throughout the Aztec empire. The people also practiced Aztec religion, the religion consisted of human give way and religious festivals. Gods of different elework forcets were worshiped and given sacrifices. tender sacrifices were given to the sun perfection in fear that the sun might not rise the next morning (Stearns). Templo mayor was the largest temple in Tenochtitlan, it was rebuilt 6 different times (King). The temple first went under construction in 1325, in season with the rest of the city.Each time it was rebuilt, it grew s lightly larger. The temple was dedicated to 2 different paragons,Tlaloc, god of rain and agriculture, and Huitzilopochtli, god of war. Each god had its own separate temple at the top. In 1427 Aztec emperor Ahuitzotl sacrificed tens of thousands of people in the span of 4 days in honor of the temple.. The organization of the city was that of a city-state, with an organized primaeval region. Agriculture was a thriving practice in Tenochtitlan. Because there was no room for it in the city, chinampas were developed.Chinampas were palm created on floating platforms on the lakes surface. Spanish conquistador Hernan Cortes visited the city in 1519 and was amazed. Cortes and his men were in awe at the order of the city. They were greeted by the Aztecs with gifts and food. Despite the hospitality, Cortes challenged the Aztecs and took emperor Montezuma hostage. The Aztecs tell war and drove the Spaniards out in 1520. Cortes led later attacks on the city but most of the population was wi ped by diseases that the Spaniards had brought.The city finally fell to the Spaniards in 1521. The city was demolished and rebuilt to what is now Mexico City. thither are politic ruins of Tenochtitlan that can still be seen today in central Mexico City. Works Cited Stearns, Peter et al. World Civilizations. tertiary ed. New York. Pearson Longman, 2000. Tenochtitlan. Retrieved from https//www. courses. psu. edu/anth/anth008_cmg149/aten. html King, Heidi. Tenochtitlan. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. (October 2004) Retrieved from http//www. metmuseum. org/toah/hd/teno_1/hd_teno_1. htm (October 2004)