The capital city of the Mexica, Tenochtitlan, was founded on an island in the basin of Mexico (in the area now occupied by the modern center of Mexico City).  At the time of the Spanish conquest, the city was filled with plastered temples, canals, and domestic homes.  The beauty of this native metropolitan center was described by the Spanish conqueror, Cortes who called Tenochtitilan one of the most beautiful cities in the world. 

The city itself was a well planned city laid out on a regular grid of avenues and arranged into five quarters, coinciding with the five directions recognized by the Mexica (north, south, east, west, and center).  Major temples marked each of the cardinal directions.  The sites of these temples are now occupied by major colonial churches, constructed after the Spanish siege in 1521.  The sacred precinct of the city was located at the center and was marked by the largest and most important structure, the Temple of Huitzilopochtli. 

The codex mendoza, shown at the right, depicts a Mexica map of Tehnochtitlan.  The five cardinal directions are represented by four triangular areas positioned around the central image of an eagle resting on a flowering cactus.  The image that is depicted on the codex illustrates how the Mexica’s religious, historical, and mythical past were bound up with the way they viewed the world and their place within it.  For example, the eagle resting on the cactus was part of a Mexica foundation story.  According to the myth, the Mexica were informed by their patron god, Huitzilopochtli, that when they saw an eagle perched upon a prickly pear cactus they would know that they had reached to location where they would build a city.  At this location they erected a temple to Huitzilopochtli that later became the twin temple described above.  As in their myth, this temple was located in the center of the city and was connected in the map becomes the fifth direction, center.  Take a closer look at the image at the right.  What other images continue to pop up and what significance do you think they had in the minds and lives of the Mexica? 

 Founding of Tenochtitlan 
 codex Mendoza, c. 1541-42 CE