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Aztec Capital Tenochtitlan

Type Object Region Mesoamerica Time 1325–1521

Tenochtitlan was the capital founded by the Mexica in 1325 on an island in Lake Texcoco, later the political, religious, and economic center of the A…

Timeline

  1. 1325–1420Tenochtitlan Island, Lake Texcoco · Valley of MexicoAccording to tradition, the Mexica settled on a lake island under divine oracle instruction, built causeways connecting to the lakeshore, and gradually formed a religious-administrative center centered on the Templo Mayor, forming the Triple Alliance with Texcoco and Tlacopan.
  2. 1421–1430Tenochtitlan · Valley of MexicoAfter Itzcoatl's accession in 1427, military expansion was pushed forward and the capital's population and tribute inflow surged; the Tlatelolco great market and canal network supported regional trade, making the city the hub of Aztec hegemony.
  3. 1431–1521Tenochtitlan · Valley of MexicoOver the following decades the capital continued to expand, with a population reportedly reaching several hundred thousand according to Spanish accounts; it fell in 1521 after a prolonged siege and a smallpox epidemic, its stones being quarried to build colonial Mexico City, ending the lake-capital layout.

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