What is the story of Tenochtitlan?
Tenochtitlan, the capital of the Aztec empire, was founded by the Aztec or Mexica people around 1325 C.E. According to legend, the Mexica founded Tenochtitlan after leaving their homeland of Aztlan at the direction of their god, Huitzilopochtli. The Aztec built their capital city, Tenochtitlan, on Lake Texcoco.
Why was Tenochtitlan important to history?
In less than 200 years, it evolved from a small settlement on an island in the western swamps of Lake Texcoco into the powerful political, economic, and religious center of the greatest empire of Precolumbian Mexico. Tenochtitlan was a city of great wealth, obtained through the spoils of tribute from conquered regions.
What was Tenochtitlan known for?
Tenochtitlán was an Aztec city that flourished between A.D. 1325 and 1521. Built on an island on Lake Texcoco, it had a system of canals and causeways that supplied the hundreds of thousands of people who lived there. Aztec capital.
What did Cortes do Montezuma?
He initially welcomed Cortés but, when unable to buy him off, laid a trap in Tenochtitlán. Cortés, however, took Montezuma prisoner, hoping to prevent an Aztec attack. Instead, the Aztecs turned on Montezuma, who later died, and Cortés’s forces were nearly destroyed.
How did Cortes describe Tenochtitlan?
The city is as large as Seville or Cordova; its streets, I speak of the principal ones, are very wide and straight; some of these, and all the inferior ones, are half land and half water, and are navigated by canoes.
When was Tenochtitlan founded?
June 20, 1325
Tenochtitlan/Founded
Are Mayans Nahua?
The Aztecs were Nahuatl-speaking people who lived in central Mexico in the 14th to 16th centuries. The Maya people lived in southern Mexico and northern Central America — a wide territory that includes the entire Yucatán Peninsula — from as early as 2600 BC. …
Why did Moctezuma let Cortés stay in Tenochtitlán?
The Aztec emperor, Moctezuma II, invited the Spanish into his city for two main reasons: he was curious about them and he didn’t see them as a threat. He allowed them to stay in the city for so long because the Spaniards actually kidnapped him and held him hostage.