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© Lonely Planet Publications
BACKG RO U N D
Driving over the sea of asphalt that now overlays this highland basin, you’d be hard pressed to
imagine that, a mere five centuries ago, it was filled by a chain of lakes. It would further stretch
your powers to think that today’s downtown was on a small island crisscrossed by canals. Or
that the communities who inhabited this island and the banks of the lake spoke a patchwork of
languages that had as little to do with Spanish as Malaysian or Urdu. As their chronicles related,
the Spaniards who arrived at the shores of that lake in the early 1500s were just as amazed to
witness such a scene.
Water covered much of the floor of the Valle de México when humans began moving in as
early as 30,000 BC. Eventually it started shrinking back, and hunting became tougher, so the
inhabitants turned to agriculture. A loose federation of farming villages had evolved around
Lago de Texcoco by approximately 200 BC. The biggest of these, Cuicuilco, was destroyed by
a volcanic eruption three centuries later.
Breakthroughs in irrigation techniques and the development of a maize-based economy
contributed to the rise of a civilization at Teotihuacán, 40km northeast of the lake. For centu-
ries Teotihuacán was the capital of an empire whose influence extended as far as Guatemala.
However, unable to sustain its burgeoning population, it fell in the 8th century. The Toltecs,
possibly descended from the nomadic tribes who invaded Teotihuacán, arose as the next great
civilization, building their capital at Tula, 65km north of modern-day Mexico City. By the 12th
century the Tula empire had collapsed as well, leaving a number of statelets to compete for
control of the Valle de México. It was the Aztecs who emerged supreme.
HISTORY
BACKGROUND
HISTORY
AZTEC MEXICO CITY
The Aztecs, or Mexica (meh-shee-kah), arrived a century after the Toltecs’ demise. A wander-
ing tribe that claimed to have come from Aztlán, a mythical region in northwest Mexico, they
initially acted as mercenary fighters for the Tepanecas, who resided on the lake’s southern
shore, and they were allowed to settle upon the inhospitable terrain of Chapultepec. After
being captured by the warriors of rival Culhuacán, the Aztecs played the same role for their
new masters. Cocoxtli, Culhuacán’s ruler, sent them into battle against nearby Xochimilco,
and the Aztecs delivered over 8000 human ears as proof of their victory. They later sought
a marriage alliance with Culhuacán, and Cocoxtli offered his own daughter’s hand to the
Aztec chieftain. But at the wedding banquet, the ruler’s pride turned to horror: a dancer
was garbed in the flayed skin of his daughter, who had been sacrificed to Huizilopochtli,
the Aztec god of war.
Fleeing from the wrath of Culhuacán, the tribe wandered the swampy fringes of the lake,
finally reaching an island near the western shore around 1325. There, according to legend, they
witnessed an eagle standing atop a cactus and devouring a snake, which they interpreted as a
sign to stop and build a city, Tenochtitlán.
30,000 BC–1200 BC
Human beings begin to populate the Valle
de México, living off the plants and animals
around Lago de Texcoco. As the larger
game animals start dying off, hunting is
gradually replaced by agriculture.
AD 150
World’s third-biggest pyramid, the
Pirámide del Sol, completed at Teoti-
huacán. At its height, the city northeast of
Lago de Texcoco counted 125,000 inhabit-
ants and practiced intensive agriculture.
1325
Nomadic Aztecs spot an eagle devouring
a snake while perched atop a cactus on
an island in Lago de Texcoco. The vision
was their cue to establish their capital,
Tenochtitlán, at this site.
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Tenochtitlán rapidly became a sophisticated city-state whose empire would, by the early 16th
century, span most of modern-day central Mexico from the Pacific to the Gulf of Mexico and
into far southern Mexico. The Aztecs built their city on a grid plan, with canals as thoroughfares
and causeways to the lakeshore. At the city’s heart stood the main Teocalli (sacred precinct),
with its temple dedicated to Huizilopochtli and the water god, Tláloc. In the marshier parts of
the island, they created raised gardens by piling up vegetation and mud, and planting willows.
These
chinampas
(versions of which can still be seen at Xochimilco in southern Mexico City)
gave three or four harvests yearly but were still not enough to feed the growing population.
To supplement their resources, the Aztecs extracted tribute from conquered tribes. The
empire yielded products such as jade, turquoise, cotton, paper, tobacco, rubber, lowland fruits
and vegetables, cacao and precious feathers, which were needed for the glorification of the elite
and to support the many nonproductive servants of its war-oriented state. In the mid-15th
century they formed the Triple Alliance with the lakeshore states Texcoco and Tlacopan to
conduct wars against Tlaxcala and Huejotzingo, which lay east of the valley. The purpose was
to gain a steady supply of prisoners to sate Huizilopochtli’s vast hunger for sacrificial victims,
so that the sun would rise each day.
When the Spanish arrived in 1519, Tenochtitlán’s population was an estimated 200,000 to
300,000 – far bigger than any city in Spain at that time – and that of the whole Valle de México
was perhaps 1.5 million, already making it one of the world’s densest urban areas.
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BACKGROUND
HISTORY
THE SPANISH CONQUEST
The Aztec empire, and with it nearly 3000 years of ancient Mexican civilization, was shattered
in two short years – 1519 to 1521. A tiny group of invaders brought a new religion and reduced
the native people to second-class citizens and slaves. So alien to each other were the two sides
that each doubted whether the other was human (the Pope gave the Mexicans the benefit of
the doubt in 1537).
From this traumatic encounter arose modern Mexico. Most Mexicans, being mestizo (of mixed
indigenous and European ancestry), are descendants of both cultures. But while Cuauhtémoc,
the last Aztec emperor, is now an official Mexican hero, Hernán Cortés, the leader of the Spanish
conquistadors, is seen as a villain, and the native people who helped him as traitors.
The Spanish had been in the Caribbean since Columbus arrived in 1492. Realizing that they
had not reached the East Indies, they began looking for a passage through the land mass to their
west but were distracted by tales of gold, silver and a rich empire there.
The Aztec ruler at the time was Moctezuma II Xocoyotzin, a reflective character who believed
(perhaps fatally) that Cortés, who arrived on the Gulf Coast in 1519, might be the feathered
serpent god Quetzalcóatl. According to legend, Quetzalcóatl had been driven out of Tula cen-
turies before but had vowed to return one day and reclaim his throne.
In 1518 the Spanish governor of Cuba, Diego Velázquez, asked Hernán Cortés, a colonist on
the island, to lead a new expedition westward. As Cortés gathered ships and men, Velázquez
became uneasy about the costs and Cortés’ loyalty, and tried to cancel the expedition. But
Cortés ignored him and set sail on February 15, 1519, with 11 ships, 550 men and 16 horses.
The Spaniards landed first at Cozumel off the Yucatán Peninsula then moved round the coast
Cortés’ Expedition
1487
The Aztec king Ahuízotl has no less than
20,000 prisoners sacrificed for the dedica-
tion of Tenochtitlán’s newly rebuilt main
temple, the Templo Mayor.
1519
A small group of Spanish explorers led
by Hernán Cortés arrives on Mexico’s Gulf
Coast, then makes its way through the
sierra, entering Aztec Tenochtitlán on
November 8.
1521
Cortes’ men, bolstered by 100,000 native
allies, conquer the Aztecs. After razing
Tenochtitlán to the ground, they set about
establishing their own capital, Mexico City,
upon the ruins.
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to Tabasco. There they defeated some hostile locals and Cortés gave the first of many lectures
to Mexicans on the importance of Christianity and the greatness of King Carlos I of Spain.
The locals gave him 20 maidens, among them Doña Marina (La Malinche), who became his
interpreter, aide and lover.
The expedition next put in near the site of the city of Veracruz. In Tenochtitlán, Moctezuma
began hearing tales of ‘towers floating on water’ bearing fair-skinned beings. Lightning struck
a temple, a comet sailed through the night skies, and a bird ‘with a mirror in its head’ was
brought to Moctezuma, who saw warriors in it. Unsure whether or not Cortés was the returning
Quetzalcóatl, Moctezuma tried to discourage him from traveling to Tenochtitlán by sending
messages about the difficult terrain and hostile tribes that lay between them.
Cortés apparently then scuttled his ships to prevent his men from retreating and, leaving
about 150 men on the coast, set off for Tenochtitlán. On the way, he won over the Tlaxcalans as
allies. After an unsuccessful attempt to ambush the Spaniards at Cholula, about 120km east of
Tenochtitlán, Moctezuma finally invited Cortés to meet him. The Spaniards and 6000 indigenous
allies thus entered Tenochtitlán on November 8, 1519. Cortés was met by Moctezuma, who was
carried by nobles in a litter with a canopy of feathers and gold.
The Spaniards were lodged in luxury – as befitted gods – in the palace of Axayacatl, Mocte-
zuma’s father. But they were trapped. Some Aztec leaders advised Moctezuma to attack them,
but Moctezuma hesitated and the Spaniards took him hostage instead. Moctezuma told his
people he went willingly, but hostility rose in the city, aggravated by the Spaniards’ destruc-
tion of Aztec idols.
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BACKGROUND
HISTORY
The Fall of Tenochtitlán
After the Spaniards had been in Tenochtitlán for about six months, Moctezuma informed
Cortés that another fleet had arrived on the Veracruz coast. This had been sent from Cuba to
arrest Cortés. Cortés left 140 Spaniards under Pedro de Alvarado in Tenochtitlán and sped to
the coast with his remaining forces. They routed the bigger rival force, and most of the defeated
men joined Cortés.
Meanwhile, things boiled over in Tenochtitlán. Apparently fearing an attack, Alvarado’s men
struck first and killed about 200 Aztec nobles trapped in a square during a festival. Cortés and his
enlarged force returned to the Aztec capital and were allowed to rejoin their comrades, only to
come under fierce attack. Trapped in Axayacatl’s palace, Cortés persuaded Moctezuma to try to
pacify his people. According to one version, the king went on to the roof to address the crowds
but was mortally wounded by missiles; other versions say that the Spaniards killed him.
The Spaniards fled on the night of June 30, 1520, but several hundred, and thousands of
their indigenous allies, were killed on the Noche Triste (Sad Night). The survivors retreated to
Tlaxcala, and prepared for another campaign by building boats in sections that could be car-
ried across the mountains for a waterborne assault on Tenochtitlán. When the 900 Spaniards
re-entered the Valle de México, they were accompanied by perhaps 100,000 native allies.
Moctezuma had been replaced by his nephew, Cuitláhuac, who then died of smallpox brought
to Mexico by a Spanish soldier. Cuitláhuac was succeeded by another nephew, the 18-year-old
Cuauhtémoc. The attack started in May 1521. Cortés resorted to razing Tenochtitlán building
by building, and by August 13, 1521, the resistance ended. The captured Cuauhtémoc asked
Cortés to kill him, but was denied his request.
1531
On December 12, a vision of the Virgin
of Guadalupe appears before indigenous
peasant Juan Diego on Tepeyac Hill at the
site of an Aztec religious shrine.
1629
Torrential rain leaves Mexico City
submerged under water for five years, until
1634, when the drainage canal is finally
expanded and improved. Residents either
flee for higher ground or take up rowing.
1810
After declaring independence from Spain
at Guanajuato, the priest Miguel Hidalgo
leads 80,000 troops to Mexico City. They
defeat the loyalist forces outside the capi-
tal, but the War of Independence continues
for another 11 years.
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Establishing their headquarters at Coyoacán, on the southern shore of the Lago de Texcoco,
the Spaniards had the ruined Tenochtitlán rebuilt as the capital of Nueva España (New Spain),
as the new colony was called. The city’s central plaza (today the Zócalo) was laid out next to
the former site of the Aztecs’ Teocalli. Beside the plaza Cortés had a palace (today the Palacio
Nacional – the presidential palace) and a cathedral built.
From this capital, the Spanish sent out expeditions to subdue not only the rest of the Aztec
empire but also other parts of Mexico and Central America that had not been under Aztec con-
trol. By 1600 the territory ruled from Mexico City stretched from what’s now northern Mexico
to the border of Panama (though in practice Central America was governed separately).
CAPITAL OF NUEVA ESPAÑA
COLONIAL GOVERNMENT & SOCIETY
The Spanish king Carlos I denied Cortés the role of governor of Nueva España, and the crown
waged a long, eventually successful struggle through the 16th century to restrict the power
of the conquistadors in the colony. (Cortés returned disillusioned to Spain in 1540 and died
there in 1547.) In 1527 Carlos I set up Nueva España’s first
audiencia,
a high court with govern-
mental functions. Then in 1535 he appointed Antonio de Mendoza as the colony’s first viceroy,
his personal representative to govern it. Mendoza, who ruled from Mexico City for 15 years,
brought badly needed stability, limited the worst exploitation of indigenous people, encouraged
missionary efforts and ensured steady revenue to the Spanish crown.
By 1550 the city emerged as the prosperous, elegant capital of Nueva España. Broad, straight
streets were laid out along the Aztec causeways and canals. Indigenous labor built hospitals,
palaces and a university according to Spanish designs with local materials such as
tezontle,
a
red volcanic rock which the Aztecs had used for their temples. The various Catholic orders (the
Dominicans, Augustinians, Franciscans and Jesuits) had massive monastic complexes
erected.
While the Spaniards prospered, the conquered peoples declined disastrously, less because of
harsh treatment than because of a series of plagues, many of them new diseases brought over
from the Old World, such as smallpox and measles. The native population of the Valle de México
shrank, by most estimates, to less than 100,000 within a century of the conquest.
The indigenous people’s best allies were some of the monks who started arriving in Nueva
España in 1523 to convert them. Many of these were compassionate, brave men; the Francis-
can and Dominican orders distinguished themselves by protecting the local people from the
colonists’ worst excesses. The monks’ missionary work also helped extend Spanish control
over Mexico. Under the second viceroy, Luis de Velasco, indigenous slavery was abolished
in the 1550s. Forced labor continued, however, as indigenous slavery was partly replaced by
African slavery.
Building continued through the 17th century but problems arose as the weighty colonial
structures began sinking into the soft, squishy lake bed. Furthermore, lacking natural drainage,
the city suffered floods caused by the partial destruction in the 1520s of the Aztecs’ canals. Lago
de Texcoco often overflowed, damaging buildings, bringing disease and forcing thousands of
people to relocate.
Urban conditions improved in the 1700s as new plazas and avenues were installed, along with
sewage- and garbage-collection systems and a police force. This was Mexico City’s gilded age. But
BACKGROUND
HISTORY
1824
After the overthrow and execution of Em-
peror Iturbide, the Constitution of 1824 is
adopted, declaring Mexico a republic with
a representative legislature and a popularly
elected president.
1833–55
Mexican presidency changes hands 36
times, with 11 terms going to one general,
Antonio López de Santa Anna.
1847
During the Mexican–American war,
US forces invade Mexico City, storming
Chapultepec Castle. Six heroic teenaged
Mexican cadets perish rather than surren-
der, assuring their place in martyrdom.
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