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Tenochtitlan Descritption

Hernando Cortés was a Spanish explorer who conquered the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlán in 1521, which was one of the largest cities in the world at the time. His accounts describe the city's impressive infrastructure, including causeways, canals, and grand temples, highlighting the sophistication of Aztec civilization. Following the conquest, the Spanish destroyed Tenochtitlán and built Mexico City in its place, with Cortés' writings serving as primary sources for understanding the city's historical significance.

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54 views2 pages

Tenochtitlan Descritption

Hernando Cortés was a Spanish explorer who conquered the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlán in 1521, which was one of the largest cities in the world at the time. His accounts describe the city's impressive infrastructure, including causeways, canals, and grand temples, highlighting the sophistication of Aztec civilization. Following the conquest, the Spanish destroyed Tenochtitlán and built Mexico City in its place, with Cortés' writings serving as primary sources for understanding the city's historical significance.

Uploaded by

Noura Fahmy
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Name: Date:

Cortés in Tenochtitlán
Hernando Cortés was a Spanish explorer and conquistador who landed on the coast of
Mexico in 1519. Learning of the powerful Aztec empire and its capital city of
Tenochtitlán, Cortés traveled over one hundred miles inland to find the city and claim
the Empire for Spain. At the time, the city of Tenochtitlán was home to over 100,000
people and one of the largest cities in the world. In August 1521, the Spanish and their
Native American allies defeated the Aztecs and conquered the city. The Spanish
leveled Tenochtitlán and built Mexico City on the site of the Aztec capital. Primary
sources, such as the accounts written by Hernando Cortés and other Spanish officials,
are the only surviving writings we have of this once great city.

Read the following description of Tenochtitlán by Hernando Cortés. Use this


description to help you answer the questions below. Discuss your answers with
the class.

"This great city of Tenochtitlán is built on the salt lake, and no matter by what road
you travel there are two leagues from the main body of the city to the mainland. There
are four artificial causeways leading to it, and each is as wide as two cavalry lances.
The city itself is as big as Seville or Córdoba. The main streets are very wide and very
straight; some of these are on the land, but the rest and all the smaller ones are half on
land, half canals where they paddle their canoes. All the streets have openings in
places so that the water may pass from one canal to another. Over all these openings,
and some of them are very wide, there are bridges. . . . There are, in all districts of this
great city, many temples or houses for their idols. They are all very beautiful
buildings. . . . Amongst these temples there is one, the principal one, whose great size
and magnificence no human tongue could describe, for it is so large that within the
precincts, which are surrounded by very high wall, a town of some five hundred
inhabitants could easily be built. All round inside this wall there are very elegant
quarters with very large rooms and corridors where their priests live. There are as
many as forty towers, all of which are so high that in the case of the largest there are
fifty steps leading up to the main part of it and the most important of these towers is
higher than that of the cathedral of Seville. . . ."

1. What are some of the objects and structures that Cortés sees in Tenochtitlán?
2. What does this primary source tell you about the city? What does Cortés' account
tell you about the Aztec people?

3. What technology does Cortés mention in his account that shows the Aztecs were
able to adapt to this environment?

Visit your local library or use the Internet to research other primary sources that
describe this city. Here are ways to find books:

Books: Look in the card catalog for books by "Cortés, Hernando (or Hernan)" or
"Diaz Del Castillo, Bernal."

The Internet: Use a search engine such


as Yahooligans(http://www.Yahooligans.com). Enter "Cortés" or "Aztecs" into the
Search box.

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