Templo Mayor

The Templo Mayor stands in the Centro Histórico of Mexico City, just off the Zócalo and beside the Metropolitan Cathedral. It was the principal temple of Mexica Tenochtitlan, founded around 1325, and was enlarged in seven major construction phases between about 1325 and the arrival of the Spaniards. The twin shrine at the top was dedicated to Huitzilopochtli, god of war and the sun, and to Tlaloc, god of rain and agriculture, symbolising the dual basis of Aztec power. After the Spanish conquest of 1521 the temple was demolished and the stone reused for colonial buildings, and the site lay buried for centuries. Modern excavation began in 1978, after electrical workers found a large carved stone disc depicting the dismembered goddess Coyolxauhqui at the base of the temple. Archaeologists under Eduardo Matos Moctezuma then uncovered the foundations, platforms, sculpted serpent heads and numerous offering caches. The open-air ruins show the stepped platforms of the successive building phases, a ball court and a tzompantli skull rack carved in stone. The adjacent Museo del Templo Mayor, opened in 1987, is arranged thematically across eight halls, with rooms devoted to Huitzilopochtli, Tlaloc, tribute and trade, and the sacrifice and funerary rituals. Its pieces include the Coyolxauhqui disc, a large monolith of Tlaltecuhtli discovered in 2006, a life-size ceramic eagle warrior and many offerings from Aztec and pre-Aztec cultures. The ruins sit well below modern street level because of the subsidence of the former lake bed, and walkways give a view of the layers of construction. Conservation work is ongoing, with attention to humidity, salts and the sinking terrain. The site is important both for archaeology and for understanding the Mexica capital that preceded the colonial city.