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Templo Mayor Ruins (Post-Conquest)

Type Object Region Mexico Time c. 1521–1540

The Templo Mayor of Tenochtitlan was destroyed in the 1521 conquest; by the 1530s its site was covered by colonial buildings with stone partly reused.

Timeline

  1. 1521–1530Center of Tenochtitlan · Mexico CityAfter the 1521 conquest, the Mexica twin temple was dismantled, altars and stone carvings scattered, and the site gradually filled in by colonial buildings, becoming a source of stone and a buried layer in the construction of the capital of New Spain.
  2. c. 1532–1540Mexico City · Mexico CityIn the 1530s, the cathedral and civic buildings were erected on and around the temple's original site; Aztec stone carvings were embedded in colonial structures, the main body of the site was buried beneath urban strata, and occasional unearthed artifacts prompted partial recognition of the pre-conquest religious center.

Sources