THE 6 MOST IMPORTANT AZTEC CITIES - HISTORY

Little is known about the most important Aztec cities despite being part of one of the most splendid empires in history. A leading civilization of great conquests in the Mesoamerican era and an example of social, economic and military structures.

The beginning of this civilization is really mysterious. It is believed that it was a culture from the north of present-day Mexico and that it resided in "Aztlán" a city near the current border of Mexico with the United States, probably what is known today as Tepic, Nayarit.

Quetzalcoatl and Tezcatlipoca

The town of Aztlán, hence the origin of its name "Azteca", was guided, by a vision of its ruler, towards "the promised land" which was nothing more and nothing less than the place where they would find an eagle standing in a nopal while devouring a snake.

After a pilgrimage of years, the tribe found the "sign" indicated by the gods and settled in what is now Lake Texcoco, a place where they adopted the name of Mexicas and from where the name of the country Mexico would later emerge..

The Mexicas were known to ally with two other tribes, Texcoco and Tlacopán, with the help of which they defeated another Azcapotzalco tribe. Later they continued to conquer neighboring territories until they dominated the entire central area of the current country of Mexico, from the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of California.

Due to the great extension of the conquered territory, the Aztecs instituted “capitals” or important cities, in which the tributes of the zones were gathered and later sent to Tenochtitlán, the maximum capital of the empire.

The most important cities of the Aztec Empire

1- Tenochtitlan

It was the capital of the Aztec Empire and was founded on one of the islands of Lake Texcoco on December 12, 1325. Due to its strategic location, the city was in a privileged place to defend itself from attacks, and the nearby lakes provided great crops. that allowed the accelerated growth of the population.

This city received 2/5 of the tribute charged to the dominated peoples and its importance was based on the fact that it was the center of trade and barter of the empire, in addition, the meetings of the lords who made war decisions and tributes were held there.

Despite the fact that this culture is admired for the beautiful pyramids that remained as a vestige of its existence in the current Teotihuacán, it is necessary to mention that it was not this civilization that built these monuments, but the Teotihuacanos, who, for unknown reasons, left the city. centuries before the Mexica found it and reoccupied it.

2- Texcoco

It was founded in 1337 by peoples of Chichimeca origin, but fell to the Tepanec Empire, who assassinated their tlatoani. He changed the name of the city to Azcapotzalco and dominated the people cruelly, with tributes that barely allowed them to survive in order to avoid a rebellion.

10 years later, the son of the murdered Tlatoani, Nezahualcóyotl, allied himself with the Mexica of Tenochtitlán (Aztecs), defeated the Tepanecas and avenged the death of his father.

From these events the city was called Texcoco, one of the 3 headwaters of the Aztec dominion, which received 2/5 of the tributes of the conquered peoples.

Texcoco was the second most important city of the empire, known as the cradle of knowledge, since Nezahualcoyotl appreciated culture and education, so its importance lay in the temples dedicated to the learning of science, art, astronomy, divination and commerce.

3- Tlacopan

It means "city on the rods", currently known as Tacuba in Mexico City.

This town was also dominated by the Tepanecs, who exercised a bloody and oppressive government, so the town allied with the Aztecs to liberate themselves. This made him part of the Aztec lordship trinity.

Despite their alliance, the town of Tlacopan only received 1/5 of the tributes of the conquered towns. This resulted in the fact that, according to historical studies, they were unhappy with the empire, because despite being an alliance, the Mexica predominated in their power and population size.

Other major cities

After the capitals of the manors, the most important cities of the empire were those that were strategically located according to the trade routes, the importance of their products or the amount of tribute they could offer.

4- Mazatlan - land of deer

Located on the Pacific Ocean coast, it provided venison meat and skins and seafood such as shellfish, fish, shells and pearls.

5- Tochtlan - land of rabbits

Located on the coasts of present-day Veracruz, it mainly supplied marine products and was a strategic point for trade with the Yucatan peninsula.

6- Ixtapan - land or house of salt.

As its name implies, its main contribution was the precious seasoning. Despite the power and influence of the Aztec Empire, it was conquered by the Spanish, who allied with the peoples dominated by the empire to overthrow them, hoping to regain their independence.

References

THE RISE OF THE AZTEC EMPIRE By John P. Schmal, An educational project of the Houston Institute for Culture, retrieved from houstonculture.org.
Aztec Civilization by Mark Cartwright, published on February 26, 2014, retrieved from ancient.eu.
Prescott, William Hickling. History of the conquest of Mexico, with a preliminary view of the ancient Mexican civilization, and the life of the conqueror Hernand Cortez. Philadelphia: JB Lippincott & Company, 1867. Recovered from khanacademy.org.
The lives of the Aztec common people By Michael E. Smith on January 1, 2005, retrieved from scientificamerican.com.
The Aztec empire by Raphael Chijioke Njoku, ENCYCLOPEDIA OF WESTERN COLONIALISM SINCE 1450 pages 119 - 122, retrieved from history.furman.edu.

THE 6 MOST IMPORTANT AZTEC CITIES - HISTORY - 2025