The Aztecs In Mexico City: Tenochtitlan

Mexico City is known as one of the largest concentrations of humanity on the planet. Stretching for miles in all direction. However, before Mexico City, there was once another great city, a city that rivaled cities the like of these in Europe. Tenochtitlan was an urban island settlement built on an inland lake system of the Valley of Mexico, that housed 200,000 inhabitants at its height(Carrasco). Tenochtitlan was one of the largest cities in the world at the time. The two largest cities known before the encounter were Paris and Constantinople. Both these cites averaged about 300,000 people. The people that live there were called the Mexica, but are universally known as the Aztecs. Who are the Aztec? Well, The Aztecs started as the Triple Alliance.
Tenochtitlan would be built to look prestigious and grand. The whole city was designed to inspire awe in the people, especially the conquesting Spanish. Guests would entertained with lavish ceremonies(BBC. Montezuma). Tenochtitlan was renovated along grid lines. The inner region was renovated to match this grid, as well as the outskirts to develop the entire city more organized. The people of Tenochtitlan borrowed many stylistic designs from Teotihuacan, and Tula the neighboring cities to develop their city. These cities used a grid structure as well. Along with that architectural styles, and sculpture were also mimicked. The entire city of Tenochtitlan was divided into quadrants. Tenochtitlan's water management was impressive with large canals crisscrossing the city. Canals divided the city in the four cardinal directions(Smith). These Canals were surrounded by ‘’chinampas’’ a type of Mesoamerican agriculture which used small, rectangular areas of fertile arable land to cultivate crops on the shallow lake beds raised and flooded fields, which greatly increased the agricultural capacity of the Aztecs. There were, in addition, anti-flood dikes, artificial reservoirs for pristine water, and wonderful flower gardens dotted around the city(BBC.
These pyramids are The Twin Stair pyramids. At its highest point, it had two temples and a double staircase. Each temple was dedicated to a separate god. The one on the left was dedicated to Tlaloc and was decorated with blue and white paint to signify water and moisture. The Aztecs worshiped him for his connection with the life-giving and taking qualities of the rain. The right temple was dedicated to Huitzilopochtli and was painted in red and white to honor war and sacrifice. This pyramid was so steep that one could not see the temple on top unless they had climbed the pyramid and their head had cleared the platform. This signified that the gods were so much above the people and earthly things that one could not even come close to them if they were not at the top of the pyramids. This was because Aztec believe the gods lived in the sky. The average height for these temples is estimated to be 197 ft, Built of stone and covered with stucco and polychrome paint (Townsend). There were also round pyramids constructed by the Aztecs. These were dedicated to the god Quetzalcoatl. He represents the god of the wind and these pyramids were given a rounded shape so they would not act as a barrier and hinder the wind god's entrance. These types can be found in the Toluca Valley and in Calixtlahuaca. It’s architecture us constructed by