The city is as large as Seville or Cordova; its streets, I speak of the principal ones, are very wide and straight; some of these, and all the inferior ones, are half land and half water, and are navigated by canoes.
After a three-month siege, Spanish forces under Hernán Cortés capture Tenochtitlán, the capital of the Aztec empire. Cortés' men leveled the city and captured Cuauhtémoc, the Aztec emperor.
The siege of Tenochtitlán When Cortés heard of this, he took a garrison of Spanish and Tlaxcalan soldiers and marched on the Spanish. Cortés defeated the Spanish force, but when he returned to Tenochtitlán he was met with a shock. The Aztecs were in the midst of a full rebellion. Cortés and his men fled the city.
Spanish conquistadores commanded by Hernán Cortés allied with local tribes to conquer the Aztec capital city of Tenochtitlán. Cortés's army besieged Tenochtitlán for 93 days, and a combination of superior weaponry and a devastating smallpox outbreak enabled the Spanish to conquer the city.
What impression does Cortés give about the city of Tenochtitlán? It is well-built and well-organized. A polytheistic religion was a central part of Aztec life.
November 8, 1519He entered Tenochtitlan, the Aztec capital home to ruler Montezuma II, on November 8, 1519.
The Aztec built their capital city, Tenochtitlan, on Lake Texcoco. Built on two islands, the area was extended using chinampas—small, artificial islands created above the waterline that were later consolidated. Tenochtitlan eventually reached an area of more than 13 square kilometers (five square miles).
TenochtitlánTenochtitlán, the capital city of the Aztec Empire, flourished between A.D. 1325 and 1521—but was defeated less than two years after the arrival of Spanish invaders led by Cortés.
Arriving in Mexico Dona Marina spoke the Nahuatl language of the Aztecs and could help to interpret for Cortes. Cortes heard of the gold and treasures of the Aztecs. He wanted to conquer them and take their treasure for Spain.
Cortés razed Tenochtitlan, building his own capital over its ruins, and proclaimed the Aztec Empire to be New Spain. Soon after the Spanish colonization of Cuba in 1519, a small army led by Hernán Cortés (1485-1547) conquered Mexico from the Aztecs. Cortés first attacked and then made allies of towns.