Templo Mayor

The excavated great temple of Aztec Tenochtitlan, whose twin shrines to Tláloc and Huitzilopochtli were rebuilt seven times.

Two shrines stood side by side on top of a stepped pyramid: one for Huitzilopochtli, god of the sun and war, and one for Tlaloc, god of rain. The temple was rebuilt and enlarged seven times, until the Spanish destroyed it in 1521. Today its ruins are an archaeological site in the middle of Mexico City.

Seven temples in one

The first of seven temples on the site was built in 1325, and the second existed by 1375. In 1454 the biggest expansion took place under ruler Moctezuma I. The last temple was mentioned by the conquistadors in 1519 and was last altered by the Aztecs in 1520. Each new temple was built over the old one, like layers of an onion, which is why archaeologists can study the earlier ones inside.

Rediscovery

After the Spanish conquest of Tenochtitlan in 1521, the temple was taken apart and its stones used for the new colonial city, so its exact place was forgotten. On 21 February 1978, workers digging for the city's electricity company found, a little more than two meters down, a huge carved stone disk more than 3.25 meters wide. This led to a full excavation of the Templo Mayor.

On the globe

The model shows the stepped pyramid with twin shrines on top; look for the red-and-blue temples on the stair-stepped base.