Tenochititlan

.

What is it?

• The Capital of the Aztec Empire• It was the largest city in the world at

this time • It had over 200,000 people• Spanish conquistadors destroyed the

city in 1521• Mexico city was formed on top of the

ruins

Geography

• It covered 8213.5 square kilometers• It was built in the center of Texcoco which

gave it lots of paths to other civilizations with bridges that could be pulled up in case of emergency

• Even though the land around the city was marshy and snake infested, the city was very successful

• They filled shallow areas of the lake with soil so that they could grow things, and they anchored the soil with trees.

History

• The Aztecs had an ancient tradition where they would plan their new city by where they would see an eagle eating a snake while perched on a cactus

• They saw this near Lake Texcoco so they built their city there

• This vision is now on the Mexican flag

Culture

• Their culture was very advanced• smallpox devastated their culture

because it killed so many people• They gave human hearts for sacrifice

because they believed that it was a necessary part of giving respect to the Gods. Priests would rip their hearts out of their bodies. The hearts would still be beating when they threw themselves down the stairs of the temple.

QuickTime™ and aTIFF (Uncompressed) decompressor

are needed to see this picture.