When did the Aztecs settle in Tenochtitlan?
1325 C.E.
Tenochtitlan, the capital of the Aztec empire, was founded by the Aztec or Mexica people around 1325 C.E. According to legend, the Mexica founded Tenochtitlan after leaving their homeland of Aztlan at the direction of their god, Huitzilopochtli.
How did Aztecs decide where to settle?
According to legend, the Aztecs settled at a place where they saw an eagle perched on a cactus with a snake in its mouth. They took this as a sign from their god that they should settle there. The Aztecs called the place Tenochtitlan, which means the place of the cactus.
When did the Aztecs build the city of Tenochtitlan?
Tenochtitlan was founded in 1325 in the middle of the lake of Texcoco, were the ancient Aztec people were indicated by their god Huitzilopochtli, the signal: An eagle eating a snake standing in a nopalli (a kind of cactus). This was an small barren island, there the primitive Aztecs started to build their new city.
How did the Aztecs get a new place to settle?
When the Aztecs were driven from their valley home by the Culhuacan they needed a new place to stay. The priests said they had a sign from the gods. The Aztecs should settle where they saw an eagle holding a snake while standing on a cactus. They saw this sign on a marshy island in the lake and began to build a new town on the spot.
Why did the Tenochtitlan Indians build the island?
Huitzilopochtli directed them to build where they saw an eagle perched on a cactus, eating a snake. When they saw this exact scene on an island (located in what was once Lake Texcoco), they interpreted it as a sign from their god and founded Tenochtitlan on that island.
How did the Spanish destroy Tenochtitlan in 1521?
Built on an island on Lake Texcoco, it had a system of canals and causeways that supplied the hundreds of thousands of people who lived there. It was largely destroyed by the Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés after a siege in 1521, and modern-day Mexico City now lies over much of its remains.