June 2022. Although I have been in Mexico before, the last time was in 1994-1995. Twenty-seven years later, Oriol and I are doing a classic tour of the United Mexican States, featuring Mexico City (CDMX); Palenque in Chiapas; Villahermosa in Tabasco; Uxmal, Mérida, Chichen Itza, Ek’ Balam, Valladolid, and a few cenotes (waterholes) in Yucatán and Tulum in Quintana Roo. We returned via Cancún to CDMX and Amsterdam Airport Schiphol.
The Templo Mayor, Spanish for Main Temple, was the main temple of the Mexica (aka Aztec) people in their capital city of Tenochtitlan, which is now Mexico City. Its architectural style belongs to the late Postclassic period of Mesoamerica.
The temple was called the Huēyi Teōcalli in the Nahuatl language. It was dedicated simultaneously to Huitzilopochtli, god of war, and Tlaloc, god of rain and agriculture, each of which had a shrine at the top of the pyramid with separate staircases.
The spire in the center of the adjacent image was devoted to Quetzalcoatl in his form as the wind god, Ehecatl.
The Great Temple devoted to Huitzilopochtli and Tlaloc, measuring approximately 100 by 80 m (328 by 262 ft) at its base, dominated the Sacred Precinct. Construction of the first temple began sometime after 1325, and it was rebuilt six times. The temple was destroyed by the Spanish in 1521 to make way for the new Mexico City Cathedral.
The site is part of the Historic Center of Mexico City, which was added to the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1987.
A visit
In June 2022, coronavirus countermeasures were still in place and this meant wearing a cubreboca or face mask and – more or less – following a strict route. We started with the museum building to learn more op the site and the people who inhabited Tenochtitlan. Its collection is interesting and insightful.
Later we visited part of the excavations. The museum wasmore enlightening. An interesting introduction to what would come later on this trip.
Perhaps not a must-see site.
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