was home to some of the most powerful and largest
cities that had ever existed in the Pre-Columbian era.
Teotihuacan
was the largest and most influential urban center of the Classic
era, (300-B.C. to 1000 A.D.). It was at its apex the trade center
of the new world, with Teotihuacanos having established trading
centers as far south as the Mayan area. Its rule lasted for a millenia,
a period longer then that of the Roman Empire.
Tenochtitlan
was the Island Capital of the Aztec Empire. The city rose in the
Postclassic era (1000 A.D. to 1590 A.D.) after the collapse of the
Classic centers. To the Aztecs, Teotihuacan was an ancient city,
thought to have been abandoned by giants who had created the city
in the dawn of pre-history.
Today Modern Mexico City covers an area that
at the time of the Conquest held Lake Texcoco. The Spaniards under
Cortes, built their city upon the ruins of Tenochtitlan's sacred
precinct. Only a small remnant of the lake exist today, the rest
covered by Mexico City, the largest city in the world. |
