Today was an important first day in understanding the essence of Mexico City - that is, how it came to be and the rich history it has that culminated into the Mexico City it is today. I had the privilege of seeing sublime statues, palaces, and archaeological sites that stem from rich civilizations that occupied Mexico prior to the Spanish conquest. It is outstanding how the Mexican government is able to preserve such antique aspects of Mexican heritage and history despite violent wars, conquests, and transitions of power.
Probably the most important thing to know and understand beyond just Spanish when going to Mexico is understanding the rich heritage it derives from. Mexicans descend from the ancient Olmecs which later fell and gave birth to many civilizations after it, the last of which was the Aztecs, a powerful tribe that controlled most of central Mexico. Their capital Tenochtitlan, which is present-day Mexico City, was known for its grandeur, distinct religion, and highly advanced society. I had the privilege today of reading and learning about the fascinating culture and engineering this civilization thrived upon.
El Templo Mayor or the Great Temple was built at the very center of the great Tenochtitlan. It thrived off every ruler's desire for expansion, which archaeologists refer to as etapas or stages. El Templo Mayor's structures were heavily based on the religious belief in cosmos and the Aztec god Huitzilopotchli, the god of war and patron of the Mexicas. Legend has it that Huitzilopotchli was born as a grown man to protect his mother, Goddess Coatlicue, from her other children (pictured above on the left) who were plotting to kill her after learning that she was pregnant with Huitzilopotchli. He came out of the womb armed with the fire serpent and decapitated his sister Coyolxauhqui immediately, saving his mother's life. Just as portrayed in the myth, the Great Temple shows a victorious Huitzilopotchli on top of the structure while Coyolxauhqui lies dismembered at the bottom of the temple, as shown on the right picture above. The beauty of the Aztec architecture lies within the rich religion that it sought to preserve and protect for years to come by embedding it into its structures and lifestyle.
Beyond their vast knowledge of astronomy, mathematics, and war, the Aztecs were stellar engineers, who were able to construct complex architectural structures that significantly helped sustain their society. They had built aqueducts and canals that eventually reached as far as Guatemala to give over 200,000 inhabitants clean water every day. The aqueducts also had a purification system whereby the waste water was drained out of the canals and dumped away from the city. In order to construct the waste water drainage system, a two-meter swath was cut through the Great Temple and the construction stages within that swath were destroyed. The construction stages within themselves were engineering masterpieces. Whether the Aztec rulers intended to or not, their continuous desire for expansion with each ruler ultimately led to the preservation of some of the Great Temple and center of Tenochtitlan despite the Spanish's attempt to obliterate any traces of Aztec life in Meso-America. Because each expansion was built upon the next and the Great Temple was in a pyramid shape, even the commoner did not know what it looked like on the inside or how many layers there were, unless they received special permission from the king to be inside the Great Temple. After exavating the area, we now know that there were over 10 etapas, and with each one being built on top of another, the more ancient ones were buried so far in that the Spanish could not destroy them. The most recent ones (circa, 1519-1521) were destroyed originally since they formed the outer layers of the temple.
Tenochtitlan covers centuries of rich history that culminates in the diverse cosmopolitan that Mexico City is renowned for. Mexico's preservation of its cultural and scientific roots and its fiery passion for its distinct society proves its strong emphasis on heritage even today. Statues of all eras and phases of the country are erected in its bustling capital just to remind its citizens of the beautiful history they derive from. It's no wonder that they have much to be proud of and much to continue perpetuating for centuries to come.