Tenochtitlán.

Tenochtitlán. Tenochtitlán, Aztec city in the Valley of Mexico, on the site of present-day Mexico City. It became the capital of the Aztec Empire in the 14th century. When the Spanish conquered it in the early 16th century, Tenochtitlán was one of the largest cities in the world. The Mexica, a Chichimec hunter-gatherer tribe, entered the Valley of Mexico from the north in the 13th century. With land at a premium in the region, they were forced to take refuge on two swampy islets near the western shore of Lake Texcoco. A Mexica legend foretold that they would establish a powerful civilization in a place where an eagle, perched on a prickly-pear cactus, was eating a snake. Mexica priests proclaimed that they had seen the promised omen. In 1325 the Mexica founded Tenochtitlán and Tlatelolco on the islets. To create additional land, they anchored wickerwork baskets on the lake's shallow bottom and piled silt and plant matter onto them, creating artificial islands known as chinampas. They further anchored the soil with trees. The Tenocha, as the residents of Tenochtitlán now called themselves, eventually came to control Tlatelolco as well. They soon conspired and fought their way to dominance over other city-states in the valley. The Tenocha eventually took the name Aztec after the legendary Aztlán, supposedly their original homeland. As the Aztec Empire grew, so did Tenochtitlán, becoming a city of hundreds of buildings and an estimated 150,000 to 300,000 inhabitants. It was protected against floods by well-built dikes and connected with the mainland by three causeways. An elaborate system of canals provided for transportation, and aqueducts provided fresh water. The city center, with stone palaces, pyramids, temples, and towers, was dedicated to the gods. The most spectacular of these structures was a pyramid 45 m (150 ft) in height, holding a great temple honoring Huitzilopochtli, the war god and sun god. Aztec society was stratified into two main classes: a noble class of priests, warriors, and administrators, and a common class of merchants, artisans, soldiers, laborers, and farmers. Tenochtitlán's neighborhoods reflected the divisions. A Spanish army under Hernán Cortés occupied Tenochtitlán in 1521 and razed it, even as the Spaniards marveled at it as the "Venice of the New World," comparing it to Venice, Italy. Upon its ruins they founded Mexico City. Recent excavations by Mexican archaeologists at the Aztec Templo Mayor yielded the most spectacular findings of this century in Mexico; the site can be visited along with other ruins of the Aztec city. But other remains of the once great Tenochtitlán lie buried beneath Mexico City, one of the most densely populated urban centers in the world. See also Mesoamerica; Native Americans of Middle and South America; Pre-Columbian Art and Architecture; Pre-Columbian Religions. Reviewed By: Carl Waldman Microsoft ® Encarta ® 2009. © 1993-2008 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.