The Temple Mayor is located in present day Mexico City, Mexico. This was once the capital city of the Aztec Empire, Tenochtitlan. For some background information, Temple Mayor was the head place of worship for the Aztecs. It is also one of the few remaining structures of the Aztec civilization left. This site was chosen because an eagle was seen eating a snake on a perch. The Aztecs loved the place, thought it was beautiful, and made it their capital city.
In the middle of the city, a large brick building is very easy to see. One of it's profound features is that stones were carved into the shape of a skull. This is near the site where the human sacrifices were taken place. There aren't many artifacts left in the temple as most of them are in museums. There are also many different animals carved in there. They represent the different gods that they worship.
At first, they say that Temple Mayor was dedicated to a lesser god. Than when they found the eagle eating the snake They also saw a source of water and began construction on the temple. They then dedicated this large temple to the God of Water. Here they held sacrifices, worshiped, and held many different treasures at this place that the Spanish later found.
The Spaniards then came and found this Temple Mayor. They took some of the treasure and made the Natives trust them. They Aztecs later found out that this was a terrible mistakes. Unfortunately, no one really can full translate or understand the story from the Aztec point of view as the language is nearly extinct. What was preserved, as mentioned before is now in museums.
This temple is not only significant for the Aztecs but for the Europeans who now realized that they could conquer anything. Although we can't fully understand the temple it is still interesting to see. The Aztecs were very pleased and used it to the day that they became extinct. It is truly and iconic religious place of worship in Mexico City.
http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/teno_2/hd_teno_2.htm
http://www.sacred-destinations.com/mexico/mexico-city-templo-mayor
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