How a City in a Swamp Became the Capital of the Aztecs

Tenochtitlán, located in the heart of what is now Mexico City, was the largest city and capital of the Aztec empire. Today, Mexico City is still one of the largest cities in the world, despite its unusual setting. It sits on a swampy island in the middle of Lake Texcoco in the Basin of Mexico, a strange place for any capital, ancient or modern. Mexico City is ringed by volcanic mountains, including the still-active volcano Popocatépetl, and prone to earthquakes, severe flooding, and some of the worst smog on the planet.

The story of how the Aztecs selected the location of their capital in such a miserable place is part legend and part history.

Although the conquistador Hernán Cortés did his best to dismantle the city, three 16th century maps of Tenochtitlan survive showing us what the city was like. The earliest map is the Nuremberg or Cortes map of 1524, drawn for the conquistador Cortés, possibly by a local resident. The Uppsala Map was drawn about 1550 by an indigenous person or persons; and the Maguey Plan was made about 1558, although scholars are divided about whether the city depicted is Tenochtitlan or another Aztec city. The Uppsala Map is signed by cosmographer Alonso de Santa Cruz [~1500-1567] who presented the map (with the city spelled as Tenuxititan) to his employer, the Spanish Emperor Carlos V, but scholars do not believe he made the map himself, and it may have been by his students at the Colegio de Santa Cruz at Tenochtitlan's sister city Tlatelolco.


https://www.thoughtco.com/the-aztec-capital-city-of-tenochtitlan-167271

That's really interesting Thor. I love reading about Aztecs,Incas,all things historical

magica wrote:That's really interesting Thor. I love reading about Aztecs,Incas,all things historical

Glad you liked it Magica.