History of Mexico, Volume 1, 1516-1521

by Hubert Howe Bancroft

Two centuries back, the Aztecs, then a small and despised people, surrounded and oppressed by enemies, had taken refuge on some islets in the western part of the saline lake of Mexico, and there by divine command they had founded the city which, under the title of Mexico Tenochtitlan, was to become the capital of Anáhuac. The first building was a temple of rushes, round which the settlement grew up, spreading rapidly over the islets, and on piles and filled ground. The city was enlarged and beautified by successive rulers, and when first beheld by the Spaniards it had attained its greatest extent—one it never again approached—and was reputed to be about twelve miles in circumference. This area embraced a large suburb of several villages and towns with independent names, containing in all sixty thousand houses, equivalent to a population of three hundred thousand.[453]

Four great avenues, paved with hard cement, ran crosswise from the cardinal points, and divided the city into as many quarters, which were again subdivided into wards.[454]

Three of the avenues were connected in a straight line, or nearly so, with the main land by means of smooth causeways, constructed of piles filled up with rubble and débris. The shortest of these was the western, leading to Tlacopan, half a league distant, and bordered all the way with houses. They were wide enough for ten horsemen to ride abreast, and were provided at intervals with bridges for the free flow of water[455] and of traffic. Near their junction with the city were drawbridges, and breastworks for defence. A fourth causeway, from the Chapultepec summer palace, served to support the aqueduct which carried water from the mountain spring in that vicinity.

Round the southern part of the city stretched a semicircular levee, three leagues in length and thirty feet in breadth, which had been constructed in the middle of the preceding century to protect the place from the torrents which after heavy rains came rushing from the fresh-water lakes of Xochimilco and Chalco. This levee was the chief resort of the people—during the day for bustling merchants and boat crews, during the evening for promenaders, who came to breathe the fresh air soft-blown from the lake, and to watch the setting sun as it gilded the summits of Popocatepetl and his consort.

Traffic, as may be supposed, was conducted chiefly by canals guarded by custom-houses, lined with quays, and provided in some places with docks. Upon these abutted narrow yet well lighted cross streets, connected by bridges, and leading to a number of open squares, the largest of which were the market-places in Tlatelulco and Mexico proper, wherein as many as one hundred thousand people are said to have found room.

Viewed architecturally and singly, the buildings did not present a very imposing appearance, the greater portion being but one story in height. This monotony, however, was relieved to a great extent by the number of temples sacred to superior and local deities which were to be seen in every ward, raised high above the dwellings of mortals, on mounds of varying elevations, and surmounted by towering chapels. Their fires, burning in perpetual adoration of the gods, presented a most impressive spectacle at night. The grandest and most conspicuous of them all was the temple of Huitzilopochtli, which stood in the centre of the city, at the junction of the four avenues, so as to be ever before the eyes of the faithful. It formed a solid stone-faced pyramid about 375 feet long and 300 feet broad at the base, 325 by 250 feet at the summit, and rose in five superimposed, perpendicular terraces to the height of 86 feet. Each terrace receded six feet from the edge of the one beneath, and the stages were so placed that a circuit had to be made of each ledge to gain the succeeding flight, an arrangement equally suited for showy processions and for defence. Surrounding the pyramid was a battlemented stone wall 4800 feet in circumference, and through this led four gates, surmounted by arsenal buildings, facing the four avenues.[456]

The pyramid was quite modern, and owed its erection to Ahuitzotl, who for two years employed upon it an immense force of men, bringing the material from a distance of three or four leagues. It was completed in 1486, and consecrated with thousands of victims. The rich and devout brought, while it was building, a mass of treasures, which were buried in the mound as an offering to the gods, and served subsequently as a powerful incentive for the removal of every vestige of the structure. The present cathedral occupies a portion of the site.[457]

The appearance of the city was likewise improved by terraces of various heights serving as foundation for the dwellings of rich traders, and of the nobles who were either commanded to reside at the capital or attracted by the presence of the court. Their houses were to be seen along the main thoroughfares, differing from the adobe, mud, or rush huts of the poor, in being constructed of porous tetzontli stone, finely polished and whitewashed. Every house stood by itself, separated by narrow lanes or by gardens, and inclosing one or more courts. Broad steps led up the terrace to two gates, one opening on the main street, the other on the back lane or canal. The terrace platform was particularly spacious in front, where occasionally a small oratorio faced the entrance. The façade was adorned with elegant cornices and stucco designs of flowers and animals, often painted in brilliant colors. Balconies were occasionally to be seen, supported on monolith columns without base or capital, though with incised ornamentation; but they were not common, owing to the prevalence of flat roofs surrounded by battlemented and even turreted parapets. Behind them rose flowering plants, arranged in pots or growing in garden plots, and aiding to render the spot attractive for the family gathering in the evening. Flower-gardens might be seen also in the courts, with a sparkling fountain in the centre. Around ran the shady porticos, lined with suites of apartments, the larger reception rooms in front, the stores and kitchen in the rear, and other rooms and chambers, with the never failing temazcalli, or bath, arranged between them, and provided with wicker screens or curtains in lieu of doors.

Courts as well as rooms were covered with flags of stones, tessellated marble or cement, polished with ochre or gypsum; and the walls were decorated not infrequently with porphyry, jasper, and alabaster, and hung with cotton tapestry adorned with feather and other ornaments. The furniture on the other hand was scanty, consisting chiefly of mats of palm leaves, cushions, low tables, and stools.[458]

It was in the morning of the 8th of November that the Spaniards mustered for the entry into Mexico. Not far from Iztapalapan they came upon the longest causeway, two leagues in extent, which with the exception of a short angle near the shore led in a straight line northward to the heart of the city.[459] They passed several towns, some on the shore, others touching the causeway,[460] and supported to a great extent by the manufacture of salt from the lake water. The causeway had been reserved for the passage of the troops, out of deference to the desire manifested to keep the natives at a respectful distance,[461] but both sides were lined with canoes bearing an eager crowd of sight-seers. About half a league from the city the causeway formed a junction with the road from Xochimilco and Coyohuacan, at a spot called Acachinanco,[462] where a stout battlemented wall, fully ten feet in height, and surmounted by two towers, guarded the two gates for entry and exit.