Templo Mayor of Tenochtitlan
Huey Teōcalli · Huey Teocalli · Great Temple Tenochtitlan · Mexico City Templo Mayor
Late Postclassic Aztec (Mexica)·Mexica (Aztec) Triple Alliance·🇲🇽 Mexico City, Centro Histórico, Mexico
About
About Templo Mayor of Tenochtitlan
Dual shrine pyramid (Huitzilopochtli and Tlaloc, 1325–1519 CE) — heart of island city Tenochtitlan (population 200,000 in 1519, larger than most European capitals on Lake Texcoco), built in seven nested phases. Rediscovered in 1978 when electric workers found the Coyolxauhqui monolith (8.5 tonnes). Matos Moctezuma excavations yielded 160+ offerings including jaguar skeletons, coral, 7,000 objects. Spanish razed it for Metropolitan Cathedral platform; now museum encased by colonial city.
Why it mattersAztec cosmovision; nested pyramids; lake city urbanism; offering archaeometallurgy.
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01Offering 144's jaguar warrior costume meaning
- 02Coyolxauhqui myth enactment
Theories
- 01Hill of sustaining — Coatepec myth architecture
Theories are interpretations, not findings. The seal above tells you how much scholarly weight the place carries.
History
How it came to be
- Built
- c.1325–1519 CE (seven phases I–VII)
- Period
- Late Postclassic Aztec (Mexica)
- Culture
- Mexica (Aztec) Triple Alliance
- Builders
- Tenoch, Acamapichtli to Moctezuma II
- Purpose
- Cosmological axis mundi and human-sacrifice pyramid of fire-water duality
- Abandoned
- 1521 CE (cortés razes, lake drained)
- Rediscovered
- Feb 1978 Coyolxauhqui disk; 1978–2023 Matos
- Excavation
- Excavation ongoing
1325
Founding on prickly-pear portent
1487
Ahuitzotl dedication — mass sacrifice
1521
Spanish dismantle for cathedral
On the ground
Structures & features
19.4340° N · 99.1310° W · 2235 m · 4 mapped features
Huitzilopochtli shrine (south twin)
shrineWar-god shrine atop pyramid
19.4343° N · 99.1311° WTlaloc shrine (north twin)
shrineRain-god shrine with chacmool
19.4344° N · 99.1309° WCoyolxauhqui monolith platform
monolith3.25 m 8-tonne dismembered-goddess disk
19.4341° N · 99.1312° WTzompantli Huey (Skull rack)
tzompantliRecently discovered tower of 650 skulls (Huei Tzompantli)
19.4339° N · 99.1308° W
Gallery