What does the Templo Mayor represent?
The Templo Mayor or Great Temple (called Hueteocalli by the Aztecs) dominated the central sacred precinct of the Aztec capital Tenochtitlan. Topped by twin temples dedicated to the war god Huitzilopochtli and the rain god Tlaloc it was a focal point of the Aztec religion and very centre of the Aztec world.
What was the Aztec Templo Mayor?
The Templo Mayor (Main Temple) in Tenochtitlan, capital of the mighty Aztec empire, was located in the center of the city, where the most important ritual and ceremonial activities in Aztec life took place. It dominated both the Sacred Precinct and the entire city.
What was El Templo Mayor and what was its significance for the city?
The Templo Mayor (Spanish: Main Temple) was the main temple of the Mexica people in their capital city of Tenochtitlan, which is now Mexico City. The temple was destroyed by the Spanish in 1521 to make way for the new Mexico City cathedral.
What was the Templo Mayor made out of?
Templo Mayor at Tenochtitlan, the Coyolxauhqui Stone, and an Olmec Mask. In 1978, electrical workers in Mexico City came across a remarkable discovery. While digging near the main plaza, they found a finely carved stone monolith that displayed a dismembered and decapitated woman.
What did the Spaniard conquistadors build over the Templo Mayor?
The Spanish conquistadors destroyed Tenochtitlan (with the Templo Mayor included) and built their own city on top of the ruins of the once great Aztec city.
What happened to the Templo Mayor?
After the Spanish Conquest in 1521, the Templo Mayor was destroyed, and what did survive remained buried. The stones were reused to build structures like the Cathedral in the newly founded capital of the Viceroyalty of New Spain (1521-1821).
What is on top of the Templo Mayor?
A Catholic cathedral was built on top of what had been the Templo Mayor and its sacred precinct. Life marched on as New Spain grew and turned into Mexico. Tenochtitlan and the Templo Mayor were all but forgotten, as were Aztec gods and culture.
Why was Templo Mayor destroyed?
In 1521 CE, the Spanish destroyed Templo Mayor to make way for a new cathedral. The ruins were buried and largely forgotten until their rediscovery in the 1970s. When the Templo Mayor was excavated archeologists discovered a stone Chacmool statue.
Who discovered Templo Mayor?
Eduardo Matos Moctezuma
In 1978, workmen uncovered a huge, eight-tonne sculpted stone disk depicting the scattered limbs of the Aztec moon goddess Coyolxauhqui. A presidential decree gave permission for the happily named archaeologist Eduardo Matos Moctezuma to uncover what his team could of the temple.
How was Templo Mayor made?
The Templo Mayor was a vast complex of religious buildings in the center of Tenochtitlan, the capital city of the Aztec Empire. It was built around the year 1325 CE in a place believed to be where the Aztecs found the mythological eagle on a cactus devouring a snake.
Who destroyed Templo Mayor?
the Spanish
In 1521 CE, the Spanish destroyed Templo Mayor to make way for a new cathedral. The ruins were buried and largely forgotten until their rediscovery in the 1970s. When the Templo Mayor was excavated archeologists discovered a stone Chacmool statue.
Why did the Aztecs built in Tenochtitlan?
Tenochtitlan was located on a swampy island in Lake Texcoco in what is today south central Mexico. The Aztecs were able to settle there because no one else wanted the land. At first, it wasn’t a great place to start a city, but soon the Aztecs built up islands where they could grow crops.
