Category: History
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“In addition to this: the aforementioned Moctezuma gave me many garments of his own. They were such that, considering they were made entirely of cotton without a trace of silk, nowhere else in the world could anything similar be crafted or woven; neither in such diverse and natural colors, nor in such exquisite quality of…
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There are a few things we ought to know about the pre-Columbian civilizations of present-day Mexico, in order to truly appreciate our visits to the different archaeological sites and museums dedicated to them. These civilizations, such as the Aztecs, Mayas, and Olmecs sprung in an area that specialists call Mesoamerica or Middle America, although there…
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Have you ever found yourself nodding politely in a Mexican archaeological site—be it the Pyramids of Teotihuacan, Monte Alban in Oaxaca, or the Mayan ruins of Chichen-Itzá or Tulum—while secretly wondering what exactly the guide means by Classic, Pre-Classic or Post-classic? Maybe you struggle to understand what came first—the Aztecs or the Mayas. Well, consider…
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Now that we’ve uncovered why the Aztec capital had to be founded in the middle of a lake, why don’t we unveil one of the most stunning secrets in the history of engineering? The structures that guaranteed the empire’s food security: The ancient, yet still-living marvels called Chinampas. Chinampa is the name of the man-made…
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“No matter what we do, Mexico City will founder. It’s a mathematical certainty”. A fair question, frequently asked, is: Why did the Aztecs found their city in the middle of a lake when they could have done so on firm land? It is helpful to understand that the pre-Columbian civilizations of present-day Mexico conceived knowledge…
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Many modern cities lie upon the vestiges of famous capitals of the past. Rome, Athens and Cairo are perfect examples of this phenomenon that architects and archaeologists know as spolium: the practice of reusing materials from ancient structures to facilitate the construction of new ones. Across the Mexican territory, there are small villages where people…
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The other day we broke one of the biggest sales pitch in Mexican tourism: the famous pyramids of Teotihuacan were not Aztec; in fact they were a ghost town long before the rise of the Aztec civilization! Would you like to catch up? Do it here: Were they Aztec or Mayan?. The Aztecs arrived in…