City In Mexico » aztec

The Great Temple aka Templo Mayor

admin — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 15:38:12 +0000

Not far from the National Palace, the main temple of the Aztecs is situated known as Templo Mayor. In the previous century, electric company workers came across a large round stone depicting the Aztec moon goddess Coyolxauqui and that is how the excavation of the great temple began. All the items found on the site; interesting scale model of the city in the ancient times, ruins from the sidewalk, together with the stone sculpture of the moon goddess are displayed in the Templo Mayor. This temple is only a part of a larger sacred center of the famous city of Tenochititan that contained up to 78 buildings. This specific temple is believed to be dedicated to Tlaloc, the rain god, and Huitzilopochtli, the god of war. Like all the important buildings in the Mexico City, the Templo Mayor also went through several phases of construction and every phase made the building bigger. It is a large stone pyramid with the familiar wide staircases and temples seen throughout Mexico. Two snake heads guard the foot of the main staircase and appear elsewhere in the temple. Templo Mayor was a symbolic recreation of Coatepec, “the Hill of the Serpent,” a mythical sacred place. The Aztecs referred to Templo Mayor as Coatepec. By paying the admission fee you will have the opportunity to see all the artifacts found on the site and study it by yourselves.

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Palacio Nacional aka National Palace

admin — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 15:35:42 +0000

On the East side of the Zocalo there is the government building that houses the federal treasure and national archives. This site has been a palace for the ruling class of Mexico since the Aztec empire, and much of the current palace’s building materials is from the original one that belonged to Moctezuma II and that is why many claim that it has been built on the grounds where Moctezuma’s palace had stood. Here, the main attraction is Diego Rivera’s murals. These murals, painted between 1929 and 1952, depict thousands of years of Mexican history, precisely from prehispanic times to the workers movement that took place in 1930s. The admission to the building is free so everyone could see these master pieces. The National Palace is very important during the Independence Day Celebration. In other words, on September 15th at midnight when the Mexican independence is celebrated, the president of Mexico appears at the central balcony, rings a bell and shouts: “Viva Mexico!” and the crowd gathered in the Zocalo respond: “Viva!” From the Palacio Nacional the best way to continue the Mexican City walking tour is to turn right on the exiting from the National Palace and cross the street to the petite plaza, called the Plaza del Seminarioand crossing the plaza you will come across an archaeological site known as the Templo Mayor.

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