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The water used to irrigate the gardens was obtained from the springs beyond the mountains to the east of
Tetzcoco. The water was channeled through canals carved into the rock. In certain areas, rock staircases were used as waterfalls. After clearing the mountains, the canals continued downhill to a
517:
Xolotl was said to be the founder of
Tetzcoco in 1115 AD and reigned until 1232. He was followed by Nopaltzin (1232–1263), Tlotzin (1263–1298), Quinatzin (1298–1357), Techotlalazin (1357–1409), Ixlilxochitl (1409–1418), Nezahualcoyotl (1420–1472), Nezahualpilli (1472–1516), Cacama (1517–1519),
581:
coco." The
Tetzcoca royal family continued to rule, handling succession to the throne in accordance with the traditional Aztec patterns of legitimacy. In this unique passage of kingship, cohorts of brothers inherited the right to rule, then sons of the next cohort, with claims to inheritance
502:
On the summit of the mountain he constructed a shrine to the god, laid out in hanging gardens reached by an airy flight of five hundred and twenty marble steps, a significant number, since according to Aztec mythology the gods have the opportunity to destroy humanity once every 52 years.
607:
for two decades. Ixtlilxochitl's postwar rule thus ushered in a return of governmental stability, with the succession dispute and lethal warfare and lethal warfare of 1515-1521 a relatively short disruption to the otherwise calm dynastic century and a half from
Nezahualcoyot through his
608:
great-grandson
Pimentel. The dynasty would lose control of the city's top political office after that, but would persist as a landed aristocracy for centuries. Tetzcoco's decline as a regional power would likewise be very gradual, beginning at the end of the sixteenth century."
487:
point a short distance from
Tetzcotzingo. There the path to the city was blocked a deep canyon that ran from north to south. Nezahualcoyotl ordered that the gap be filled with tons of rocks and stones, thus creating one of the major aqueducts in the New World.
473:
The palace gardens were a vast botanical collection that included plants from not only the growing Aztec Empire but also the most remote corners of
Mesoamerica. Remnants of the gardens still exist to this day and have recently been studied by a team of
536:(1403–1473) was a noted poet, philosopher, and patron of the arts. He also had a large botanical and zoological garden, with specimens of plants and animals from throughout the empire and from the more distant lands with which the Empire traded.
596:"when Ixtlilxochitl died, he was succeeded by three of his brothers, don Jorge Yoyontzin (to 1533), don Pedro Tetlahuehuetzquititzin (to 1539), and don Antonio Pimentel Tlahuitolzin (to 1545); the latter's nephew (and a son of
592:, the immediate Tetzcoca heir after the Spanish-Aztec War, presided over colonial Texcoco as governor until his death in approximately 1550. Restall describes the political situation of Texcoco in the coming decades as follows:
431:
entered the battle against
Azcapotzalco late. Tetzcoco thereby became the second-most important city in the eventual Aztec empire, by agreement receiving two-fifths of the tribute collected while Tlacopan received one-fifth.
69:
478:
scientists, who were able to demonstrate by means of modeling and computer simulation that the layout of the site had been carefully planned to be in alignment with astronomical events, with an emphasis on
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856:
861:
495:
The whole hill of
Tetzcotzingo was also served by this canal system and converted by his designers into a sacred place for the rain god
841:
866:
721:
Hicks, Frederic (1982) Tetzcoco in the Early 16th
Century: The State, the City and the Calpolli. American Ethnologist 9:230-249.
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which ravaged Texcoco in the few months after the Spanish-Aztec War. This outbreak both shortened the tenures of Texcoco's last
310:
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and its major settlement, the city formally known as Texcoco de Mora. It also lies within the greater metropolitan area of
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After the fall of Tenochtitlan, Spanish authorities continued to recognize the importance of Tetzcoco as a Spanish
450:
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Tetzcoco was known as a center of learning within the empire, and had a famed library including books from older
382:
help, expelled Chichimecs from Tetzcoco and Tetzcoco became the Acolhua capital city, taking over that role from
702:
739:
734:
Smith, Michael E. (2008) Aztec City-State Capitals. University Press of Florida, Gainesville (in press).
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cities estimated that pre-conquest Tetzcoco had a population of 24,000+ and occupied an area of 450
731:
Offner, Jerome A. (1983) Law and Politics in Aztec Texcoco. Cambridge University Press, New York.
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400:
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This article is about the pre-Columbian city-state. For the modern municipality and city, see
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as a puppet ruler. Cortés made Tetzcoco his base and employed Tetzcocan warriors in the
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When Montezuma Met Cortes: The True Story of the Meeting that Changed History
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Coanchochtzin (1520–1521), and Don Fernando Ixtlilxochitl (1521–1531).
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Tetzcoco was founded in the 12th century, on the eastern shore of
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allied with the Mexica to defeat Tezozomoc's son and successor,
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Pre-Columbian Tetzcoco is most noted for its membership in the
286:
600:), don Hernando Pimentel Nezahualcoyotzin, would then rule as
779:
543:(1464–1515) continued the tradition of patronizing the arts.
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From 1827 to 1830, Texcoco served as the capital of the
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Government site, with historic and tourist information
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Concurrent with these politics was a mass outbreak of
499:, complete with waterfalls, exotic animals and birds.
415:. Tetzcoco and the Aztecs of Tenochtitlan, with the
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423:, subsequently formalized their association as the
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407:. Ten years later, in 1428, Ixtlilxochitl's son,
857:Populated places established in the 12th century
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726:Texcoco: Prehispanic and Colonial Perspectives.
661:: The Aztec Accounts of the Conquest of Mexico.
554:, Nezahualpilli's son and the last independent
728:Boulder, CO: University Press of Colorado 2014
620:and sent the city's population into freefall.
862:12th-century establishments in North America
740:"City Size in Late Post-Classic Mesoamerica"
586:ties to Mexica royalty from Tenochtitlan.
258:) in the central Mexican plateau region of
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427:. However this was an uneven alliance as
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139:• Established
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260:Mesoamerica
227:Tetzco(h)co
821:Categories
794:98°53′48″W
791:19°31′46″N
716:References
704:0062427288
618:tlahtoanis
552:Cacamatzin
447:Greenstone
372:Chichimecs
338:Tetzcocatl
256:city-state
230:pronounced
116:Government
636:Footnotes
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598:Coanacoch
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389:In 1418,
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317:capital,
291:municipio
281:capital,
185:New Spain
106:Religion
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614:smallpox
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556:tlatoani
429:Tlacopan
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219:Tetzcoco
119:Monarchy
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362:History
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287:Mexican
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249:Acolhua
149:•
88:Capital
21:Texcoco
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413:Maxtla
393:, the
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481:Venus
315:Aztec
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239:Otomi
214:Baths
61:Glyph
699:ISBN
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