On a raised island in the shallow waters of Mexico’s Lake Texcoco in the 14th and 15th centuries, a triple alliance of warrior city-states known as the Aztecs built Tenochtitlan, one of the greatest cities in the Americas.
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These human-made islands, called chinampas, were cooling oases, wildlife sanctuaries, and incredibly effective farms during and even prior to the Aztec civilization in the 13th and 14th centuries. Though modern agribusiness and global supply chains have reduced their role in the region, renewed interest in the food security they offer has increased awareness of the ancient technique. Read more here.
The Aztecs built Tenochtitlan into a thriving city-state, using innovations like chinampas—floating gardens—to support its bustling population and sprawling empire. As the centerpiece of the Aztec Triple Alliance, Tenochtitlan became a hub for trade, religious rituals, and political power. However, in the early 16th century, Spanish conquistadors led by Hernán Cortés exploited internal divisions, ultimately toppling the Aztec Empire. Today, Tenochtitlan’s legacy lives on in the heart of Mexico City, where remnants of its grandeur, like the Templo Mayor, remain a testament to the Aztec civilization’s brilliance.
The Aztecs controlled a vast territory through military might and intimidation. One very key—and to moderns, totally taboo—tactic of control was the ritual of human sacrifice, attested to by written accounts and archaeological discoveries at Tenochtitlan. While an effective scare tactic, the ritual was also based in fully-developed beliefs the world was sustained by blood.
The central valley of Mexico, where today's Mexico City is located, was the site of hundreds of city-states in the centuries before Europeans arrived. The Aztecs, known as the empire in charge when Cortes landed and conquered Tenochtitlan, were at one time a poor, relative newcomer in the region. As they grew, they joined with two other city-states to overcome the dominant power at the time, Azcapotzalco, forming a triple alliance. Learn more on the Aztec story here.
Xoquauhtli, a midwife in the heyday of the Aztec Empire, is busy with the work of helping women give birth on the festival of Teteoinnan, the Aztec's god of warfare. She would like to participate in the religious ceremonies but does not want to abdicate responsibility for her work. Follow along this historically-accurate depiction of how Xoquauhtli manages her time between labor and attending ritual human sacrifice.
By the time the Mexica came across Teotihuacán, the city home to the famed Avenue of the Dead had long been abandoned. But where did it come from? Likely first settled in 400 BCE, the city's first permanent structures probably began being erected in 100 CE with an impressive urban plan of canals and roads built on a north-south axis with a temple at its center. Read this to learn more.
Tenochtitlan was the capital city of the Aztecs, founded around 1325 on an island in Lake Texcoco, in what is today Mexico. It was a major political, economic, and religious center until its destruction by the Spanish in 1521. This video explores the marvels of the city, which began as an island but grew via causeways and in-filled land and culminating in a North American Venice.
Get a taste of traditional Aztec dancing in this three-minute video of Danza Azteca performing a Xicauhuatl, or fire serpent, dance. Aztec and Mexica mythology believed fire serpents were responsible for carrying the sun across the sky each day, and incorporated symbols of the serpent in their religious rituals, including dancing alongside percussion. Watch more here.
Across the Aztec empire, you'd be met with variants of Nahuatl, the indigenous language that is still is spoken by about 1.5 million people today. This free, self-paced online university course teaches the Veracruz variant, beginning from the language's "piltlahcuiloltzitzin"—or alphabet—to how to conduct specific "tlamachtiliztli" or ceremonies.
With an average elevation of 7,000-feet, Mexico's historical valley basin stands literally tall in the annals of history. Surrounded by volcanic mountains, the valley's center was once the vast, shallow Lake Texcoco, the site of the Aztec city Tenochtitlan. Learn the lay of this ancient, fertile land with this geography explainer on a key cradle of world civilization.
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