The ruins of an ancient Aztec temple in Mexico City – El Templo Mayor

Templo Mayor in Mexico City

Getting to Templo Mayor didn’t involve much planning because I was already in Mexico City. It was Saturday when I went to check out that interesting place. It is situated at Zocalo/main square, on the Northern part of it. Even though it was Saturday, there weren’t too many people there.

Templo Mayor is one of the largest and one of the main temples that have existed in the ancient city of Aztecs, which was situated on the same area where Mexico City is today. According to a story, when Aztecs were looking for the place where to build their city, they were given a clue by a higher being that they should build it where they see an eagle standing on a cactus, devouring a serpent. So they looked and looked for this sign, until finally, after much hardship and suffering, they’ve seen it! (By the way that image is also incorporated on Mexican flag) It was in a swamp area infested with insects and reptiles, but they followed their guidance and built what was to be the glorious city of the Aztecs. They used the water for irrigation and built up canals by which they travelled within their city. They become a powerful and dominating force in Mexico, who followed spiritual practices and were also giving offerings to their gods. According to some beliefs, the Aztec civilization is actually much older than it is though, and it is only during their last age that they started with human sacrifices. But even then, their system functioned very well. Until one day the Spanish conquistadors came with Hernan Cortes in charge, and by trickery and cleverness they conquered the Aztec Empire. One of the conquistadors has written about marvels and splendour of the design of this ancient city, and has described it in great detail.

The model of Templo Mayor and surrounding objects from the Anthropological museum in Mexico City

Ruins of Templo Mayor

This image gives perspetive on how huge this temple was.

Stone figures found at Templo Mayor.

But unfortunately all that we have today are a couple of ruins, with Templo Mayor being the biggest one – a new city has been built on top of it, which was a common practice of conquistadors who wanted to suppress an ancient culture and religion, all over Mexico. Still, el Templo Mayor is definitely an interesting place to visit, to walk among the ruins, see some of the carvings and the layout of it. Adjacent to it is a museum where you really get a clearer picture of the Aztec culture. It is another great museum in Mexico with a lot of artifacts and objects belonging to the Aztecs. Inside you will see the model of the Templo Mayor and how it used to look like. In total it takes about two hours to see both the ruins and the museum. It won’t be as splendid as many of the other ruins in Mexico, but it is still a significant place to visit.

Model of the Temple from the museum adjecent to it

Another interesting Aztec artwork from the same museum.

After visiting the Templo Mayor I went for a stroll through some of the areas downtown I haven’t been to before. I found myself returning to a street with several bookstores that sell used book in Spanish. Good place to check out if you are learning that language. The street name is Donceles.
Eventually I got the call from Gerrardo, a guy from the same apartment as my Mexican host Martin. For today we arranged to cook dinner together and I was a little late. “I’m just about to arrive.”, I said. In the apartment was a funny atmosphere, as my hosts got some were jolly Mexican guests, Alejandra and Carlos. We had good laughs, and they taught me how to sing Happy birthday in Spanish 🙂

Dario Papic, February 2016.