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Primary sourceArtifact1325

Templo Mayor

1325

The great temple of Tenochtitlan where Moctezuma II served as priest of Huitzilopochtli, enlarged during his reign and now excavated in Mexico City.

Moctezuma II served as priest of Huitzilopochtli at this temple, which was enlarged during his reign as ruler.

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Aerial view over Mexico City of the Templo Mayor archaeological site: stepped stone ruins with a green-roofed shelter over part of the excavation, surrounded by modern buildings, a street and a rooftop railing in the foreground.
Templo Mayor archaeological site, Mexico City. Construction begun after 1325.

About this source

What it is

The Templo Mayor was the main temple of the Mexica people in their capital, Tenochtitlan. Construction began after 1325 and the building was rebuilt several times, reaching its final form in the late Postclassic period. It was dedicated to the war god Huitzilopochtli and the rain god Tlaloc. The Spanish destroyed it in 1521; its remains were rediscovered and excavated in the 20th century, and are now part of the Historic Center of Mexico City.

Why it matters

The temple was the religious and political heart of Tenochtitlan. Moctezuma II served there as a priest of Huitzilopochtli, and the temple was enlarged during his reign, showing how closely religion and rulership were tied together in Aztec society. Excavations have uncovered thousands of offerings that reveal details of Mexica religious life.

Look closer

  • Why might a ruler also serve as a priest?
  • What do the thousands of buried offerings tell us about Mexica beliefs?
  • How does the temple's destruction in 1521 shape what we can and cannot know about it today?

This artifact is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Montezuma II on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

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A painted page from a colonial Mexican manuscript with a blue-green border column of glyphs on the left. Rows of hilltop place-sign glyphs with Nahuatl labels and small pictorial symbols such as a seated figure, a bird, a shield with arrows, and plants, arranged on pale paper with a footer of writing at the bottom.Document

Secondary source

Codex Mendoza, Folio 15v

Unknown author · 16th century

Black-and-white lithograph titled 'Prision de Motezuma' showing Spanish armored soldiers with helmets and halberds on the left facing a group of Aztec-style figures in feathered headdresses on the right, including a central man in a feathered crown and cloak. A large draped canopy and stone columns frame the scene; a shield lies in the lower right. Printed credits read 'J. Serra lit.', 'Lit. Vidal, Olmo 29' and 'Riera, Editor Barcelona'.Painting

Secondary source

Prisión del emperador Moctezuma

Rafael del Castillo de la Cuesta · 1880

Open bound manuscript on a green cloth, showing two pages of handwritten text in columns with small painted illustrations of fish, a shell, a crab, and shrimp. Page headed 'Libro undecimo'.Book

Secondary source

Florentine Codex

Bernardino de Sahagún with Nahua collaborators · 1569

Painting showing Hernán Cortés seizing Moctezuma, a later imagined depiction of the event.Painting

Secondary source

Hernán Cortés takes Moctezuma prisoner

Louis Auguste Turgis · 1895

Woodcut title page of a 1522 Spanish printed letter. A seated, crowned figure holds a scepter in an arched room with checkered floor, flanked by a city scene and a landscape. Below is black-letter Spanish text beginning 'Carta de relación enviada a su S. majestad del emperador nuestro señor por el capitán general de la nueva España, llamado Fernando Cortés', with a handwritten signature at the bottom.Letter

Primary source

Second Letter to Charles V

Hernán Cortés · 1520 (printed 1522)

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