Marek When the Spanish conquered the Aztec empire, the most pressing matter to deal with was the construction of several cathedrals. Limited time and funds (all the gold flowed to Spain) forced the invaders to be creative. The capital, Tenochtitlan, turned out to be bursting at the seams with building materials. Admittedly, it is recycled, but on site and for free. So the Spaniards began to demolish and dismantle beautiful pre-Columbian temples, and the material obtained in this way was created (located next to the current zocalo) into a huge cathedral. Of course, there was also enough for a few other temples. All these buildings were built literally on the site of bare buildings.
As a result of the creativity of the invaders, practically nothing remained of the beautiful capital of Montezuma. It is true that the base of the pyramid was unearthed by the walls of the cathedral, but it is not even a tiny fraction of what the Aztecs built. Excavations carried out literally at the walls of the cathedral reveal only a fraction of what we could see. Archaeologists have unearthed the meagre remains of the Templo Mayor, the most important ceremonial building in the city. As in other places in pre-Columbian Mexico, the pyramid was used for sacrifices. Of people, of course. And only on special occasions.
Up to several thousand unfortunate people lost their lives in ceremonies. Unlike other places in Mexico, they were not footballers. There were too few of them. The victims were members of the conquered peoples. The priests very efficiently cut out the hearts of slaves lying on special altars, and threw the bodies down the stairs of the pyramids. These were not easy times, but there was only one way to bribe the gods. They demanded blood.
You may be thinking what a brutal, evil, unempathetic people the Aztecs were. Yes. They were brutal and merciless. On the other hand, they had no choice. Any deviation from the accepted ceremonies was severely punished with drought and famine. They were fighting for survival in this not very friendly region of the world.
The Templo Mayor pyramid itself is an incredibly interesting building. It was built in stages. As a result, it consists of seven pyramids, built on top of each other. Probably each of the six prototypes was simply too low. The gods did not see the ceremonies dedicated to them very well. Perhaps, if it had not been for the conquest of Mexico, another, even higher pyramid would have been built. We will not find out.
Finally, don’t forget that Mexico City is the best base for a trip to Teotihuacan.