The Great Temple (Templo Mayor)

The Templo Mayor was one of the main temples of the Aztecs in their capital city of Tenochtitlan, which is now Mexico City. Its architectural style belongs to the late Postclassic period of Mesoamerica. The temple was called the huey teocalli in the Nahuatl language and dedicated simultaneously to two gods, Huitzilopochtli, god of war and Tlaloc, god of rain and agriculture, each of which had a shrine at the top of the pyramid with separate staircases. The temple, measuring approximately 100 by 80 m (328 by 262 ft) at its base, dominated a Sacred Precinct. Construction of the first temple began sometime after 1325, and it was rebuilt six times after that. The temple was destroyed by the Spanish in 1521. The modern-day archeological site lies just to the northeast of the Zocalo, or main plaza of Mexico City


The main temple of the Aztecs was only part of a much larger sacred center of the great city of Tenochtitlan, which may have contained as many as 78 buildings. This temple was dedicated to the rain god, Tlaloc, and the god of war, Huitzilopochtli. The temple went through several phases of construction, each covering over previous layers in order to make the building bigger.


Throughout the 1980s, Spanish buildings were cleared away as excavation revealed an unprecedented wealth of treasures from every corner of the Aztec Empire. The old pyramid was decapitated by the Spanish advance, but much remains: walls of stuccoed skulls and enormous carvings dedicated to Tlaloc, god of storms, and Huitzilopochtli, god of war, the most powerful in the vast Nahuatl pantheon.

Today, you can tour the ruins and see its most amazing finds at the excellent on-site museum. Excavations continue, and more treasures are being discovered every day.