Art History : Aztec Architecture and City-Structure

Aztec Architecture and City-Structure

The capital city of the Aztec empire was Tenochtitlan, which was in what we now call México City, the fifteenth most populated city in the modern world.

The city layout was planned and made so that it was divided into four city sections called campans. Tenochtitlan had several canals as well, for the purpose of transporting goods across the city with ease. Tenochtitlan, being the capital of the Aztec nation housed the majority and all of the besttechnology and architecture found in the empire.

Around the island were series of chinampa beds which were used to plant food and were used to increase the size of the island. They were incorrectly named “floating gardens” since they were used to grow up to seven different types of crops a year. One hectare of these “gardens” could feed 20 people, and about 9000 hectares were found. The reasons I consider them a type of architecture is that they were most likely man-made and they did provide much of the food the Aztecs needed.

The cities like Tenochtitlan were not rare among the Aztecs. Several like these were made all across the empire, but only a few structures like the great pyramid of the Aztecs were made. The Tenochtitlan Pyramid, also known as the Tenochtitlan Sun Pyramid, was about 60 meters tall. This Aztec Pyramid was also called ‘el Templo Mayor’ because it was surrounded by several smaller buildings which were associated with this temple. It was a place of worship for the Aztecs, who had no true established religion, they simply worshiped many minor gods like the god of corn or the god of water. Sadly, the Pyramid of Tenochtitlan was destroyed by the Spaniards when the Aztecs were invaded, conquered, and forced to convert to Christianity. Although the Pyramid of Tenochtitlan was an amazing piece of architecture of the time it was not the only one of the time. Several other smaller pyramids were made outside of Tenochtitlan and they all had similar purposes, one which all had in common was the use as a sacrificial temple. They usually had four stages, with platforms in between each. The pyramids had stairs up all four sides, and at the top, there was a sacrificial temple. Both human and animal sacrifices took place in these temples and the sacrifices were offerings to the many gods.

Tenochtitlan houses the majority of advanced architecture in the Aztec lands. When anyone hears the word “Pyramid” they immediately think of the Great Pyramid at Giza. Worthy of mention is the fact that many civilizations like the Mayans and other unknown civilizations used the shape of a pyramid to build important buildings. This was a popular structure across the ancient world most likely because they are very stable structures, yet they are extremely simple. Architecture I had never heard of before, however, is of something like chinampa beds. They were natural but they were purposely placed to expand the island of Tenochtitlan and add to the amount of land in which crops could grow.