Mexica CDMX Tour - Art Scenes

CDMX

Mexica

In the XIII century a tribe from Aztlan arrived at the shores of lake Texcoco; they got kicked out by the locals and sent to the middle of the lake where they founded the ancient cities of Tenochtitlán-Tlatelolco that eventually dominated Mesoamérica, but latter got destroyed by the Spaniards (plus floods) — and thanks to some surviving ruins you can feel like a Native American from the XVI century for a day.

Time period: 1325s-1521s

Movie/book: Apocalypto (2006)/Los Cuatro Acuerdos by Don Miguel Ruiz

Soundtrack: Native American Drums and Flutes

Fashion: white outfit, linen shirt, and a sarape plus a feather

Budget:

Tomás Filsinger: Tenochtitlán; digital reproduction, 2009

This tour would take you throughout the north/central part of the city, to the neighborhoods of: Tenayuca, Tlatelolco, Chapultepec and “Tenochtitlán” in the hunt for the remaining ruins of the Chichimec and Mexica empires; and where you can see how the contemporary “indigenas” keep traditions alive. After the fall of the Toltec Empire in the 1100s due to religious wars over human sacrifices, a Chichimec tribe from Tepan went down to the ancient lake Texcoco and founded Azcapotzalco by the 1150s, but they were not the only ones who migrated to the shore lines of the 5 interconnected lakes of the Anahuac basin. Xochimilcas, Cholcas, Colhuas, Tlahuicas, Tlaxcaltecas and Mexicas (also known as Aztec because they came from the city of Aztlan) migrated down during the fallowing centuries, each establishing a city state independent from one another — but culturally, ethnically and linguistically they were the all the same, Nahuas. The Aztecs were the underdogs of the region and got kicked out from all the shores until they got sent to the islands in the middle of the lakes by the Colhuas (who hired them as mercenaries). The islands were full of swamps or cactuses with a lot of snakes, not the best environment to build a city but they created Tenochtitlán regardless in 1325. Years latter the myth of “they saw the divene sign that Huitzilopochtli gave them centuries ago: an eagle eating a snake on top of a nopal” got created to sugar code the reality of it all. The Mexicas built a city of chinampas (artificial islands made by interweaving reeds with stakes) with ornate huts and lush vegetables gardens on top, interconnected by streets and canals plus the city itself was connected to the mainland through calzadas (wide floating bridges). In the middle of Tenochtitlán there was a: palace, zoo, baths, botanical garden plus a religious center built with volcanic rock that were highly decorated with sculptures and murals. In 1337 a suburb north of the city got created for the Mexica aristocracy, Tlatelolco, which had the largest market in the region where people traded: feathers, cacao beans, textiles and obsidiana (a very hard black volcanic glass used for sharp objects). Tenochtitlán formed an alliance with Texcoco and Tacuba in 1427 (known as “La Triple Alianza”) to overthrow the Tepanecs of Azcapotzalco; and within a hundred years, the Mexica invaded the rest of Mesoamérica, subjugating the people that at some point discriminated them (and yes they sacrificed a lot of them). Hernan Cortez put an end to the Mexicas brutal empire in 1521 when he alongside Tlaxcalans seized Tenochtitlán-Tlatelolco. The tour suggest visiting 3 archeological sites in the morning; seeing a traditional dance, the Anthropology Museum plus a spiritual cleanse in the afternoon; and to finish the day a quick visit to the Templo Mayor and eating street tacos at night. If you want to have a second prehispanic day you should visit the archeological sites of Teotihuacán and Tula nearby.