Aztecs Building. Templo Mayor
The Templo Mayor is a very tall temple, and it is one hundred and ninety-seven feet tall! This temple is considered a double temple, and was complelted in 1497. This special temple was built with stone and covered with stucco and polychrome paint. The gods of this temple were Huitzilopochtli and Tlaloc. This temple, along with other temples, are usually linked to religion.
In present day Mexico city, the Templo Mayor was once part of the sacred area of the city Tenochtitlan. The Templo Mayor belonged to the Aztecs. This temple was one of almost 80 different buildings. These buildings were all around in this city, and this city was mainly made up of pyramids and temples. The Templo Mayor was built on swampy land. The Templo Mayor ften had to be repaired along with other temples because it would sink into the soggy land.
The Templo Mayor was one of the main religious temples. This temple had two shrines on the top. One shrine was on top of the Huitzilopochtli and the other was on the Tlaoc. The Huitzilopochtli, which meant hummingbird of the south, was a shrine on the temple for the Patron god of the Mexica people. This makes this temple even more great because Huitzilopochtli was basically the god who led the people to their holy city, Tenochtitlan. Also it was a significant temple because not only does half this shrine resemble the leader to the holy city, it also resembles the god of sun and war.
The second shrine is for the god of Tlaloc. This god is important because he is the god of rain and fertality. This was the place for the sacrificing of people for the gods of this temple. During the last stages of building this massive structure, many builders were sacrificed to please the gods of this temple. It is recorded that thousands of workers were sacrificed.
This temple was known for its religious rituals. The most well-known and famous ritual performed at the Templo Mayor was human sacrifice. There were also less common rituals performed there as well such as the burning of copal, which is a tree resin. The Templo Mayor even held musical rituals as well. This Aztec temple was used many different ways.
http://www.aztec-history.com/aztec-temples.html
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