Photos Of Mexico City Templo Mayor

Serpent-Studded Aztec Artifact Found on Quest for Emperor's Tomb

Archaeologists have found a round platform Aztec ceremony dotted with stone carvings of the heads of snakes in Mexico City Templo Mayor ruins, raising hopes in the search for the tomb of an emperor, officials said Thursday.

No falls Aztec ruler has ever been found, and researchers have been looking for five years to find a royal tomb in the area of ​​the Templo Mayor, a complex of two large pyramids and many small structures which contained the heart of ceremonial and spiritual the pre-Hispanic Aztec empire.

Mexico's National Institute of History and Anthropology said the stone platform is about 15 yards (meters) in diameter and probably built around A.D. 1469. The site lies in downtown Mexico City, which was built by Spanish conquerors atop the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan.

"The historical records say that the rulers were cremated at the foot of the Templo Mayor, and it is believed to be on this same structure -- the 'cuauhxicalco' -- that the rulers were cremated," said archaeologist Raul Barrera.

"That is what the historical sources say," he said, referring to accounts written by Roman Catholic priests who accompanied the Spanish soldiers in the 1521 conquest. "Of course, now we have to find archaeological evidence to corroborate that."

He said the platform, which is still being unearthed, was gradually uncovered over the preceding months. It is covered with at least 19 serpent heads, each about a half-yard (meter) long.

Barrera said accounts from the 1500s suggested the platform was also used in a colorful ceremony in which an Aztec priest would descend from the nearby pyramid with a snake made of paper and burn it on the platform.

Records indicate there were a total of five such platforms in the temple complex. One was found several years ago, but that platform was farther from the ritually important spot at the foot of the pyramid, where the most recent finding was made.

In 1997, archaeologists using ground-penetrating radar on a site very close to where the latest stone platform was found detected possible underground chambers that they believed at the time might contain the remains of Emperor Ahuizotl, who ruled the Aztecs when Columbus landed in the New World.

El Zócalo Square in Mexico City: Plaza de la Constitution, Palacio ...

The Zócalo, officially Plaza de la Constitution, in the heart of Mexico City, is one of the world’s largest urban public squares. It measures over 240 by 240 m (800 x 800 ft).

Fiestas, protest marches, political events, and national celebrations usually end up at the Zócalo. It is also frequently used for free special events, concerts, and exhibitions - the record attendance, as estimated by Mexican police, was 210,000 when Shakira performed in May 2007.

The large Mexican flag at the center of the plaza is lowered every evening at 6 pm in a ceremony best observed from the restaurants on the top floors of hotels on the west side of the square. What is a Zócalo?

“El Zócalo” is used in Mexican Spanish to describe the main public square in town – almost all Mexican towns have a Zócalo even if the official name of the plaza is almost without exception different. However, zócalo in question was the base of the original statue, or of the never finished monument. Either way, the pedestal is long gone but the name stuck. The Historic Buildings on Mexico City’s Zócalo

The main buildings lining the Zócalo are from the north clockwise:

The Metropolitan Cathedral

The Catedral Metropoplitana is one of the largest churches in the Americas. It was built between 1563 and 1813 and thus shows a mix of styles but the overwhelming impression is Baroque.

Museo Templo Mayor

During the 1970s, large parts of the Templo Mayor (Main Temple) of the Aztecs where excavated. Parts of the pyramids, a chac mool, and other statues can be explored.

The museum's main temple has some very interesting pieces, including statues of stone and with almost intact Coyolxauhqui eagle warriors.

Between the Cathedral and the Templo Mayor is a 3D map of Tenochtitlan, the Aztec capital on the original islands in Lake Texcoco.