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Thursday, May 9, 2013


                                Teotihuacan


  The temple was made to honor the Sun and Moon god. The temple was not originally built by the Aztecs. The Aztec came to power 1000 years earlier while the temple may have been built 1000 years before the Aztec came to power. The pyramid to the sun was built on a lava tube cave. The sun temple is 65 meters tall while the moon temple is 42 meters tall. The pyramid of the sun is the third largest in the world and at the peak; it’s believed that the pyramid was painted bright red.


Templo Mayor

Templo Mayor was a part of the sacred area of the city of Tenochtitlan. It was built on swampy ground so the temple would often sink and needed to be repaired and built up over the years. The temple is 60 meters tall. It was built with stone and covered with stucco and polychrome paint. The temple was built to honor the gods of Huitzilopochtli and Tlaloc. Most objects found in the Templo Mayor was offerings. Sculptures, flint knives, vessels, beads, minerals, plants, animals and also remains of human sacrifice was found.     
    

 
 Construction of Templo Mayor started at 1325. The second temple was built during the reign of Acamapichtli. The third temple was built during 1427 and 1440 during the reign of Itzcoatl. The fourth temple was built during 1440 and 1481 during the reign of Moctezuma 1 and Axayacatl. The fifth temple was made during 1481-1486 during the short reign of  Ticoc. The sixth temple was built during the reign of Ahuizotl. Ahuizotl ordered the sacrifice of many prisoners of war; an average of 1000 victims a day were sacrificed over a period of twenty days. The temple is a double temple and it was completed in 1497. Both gods needed human sacrifices so during the final phrase of the construction thousands were sacrificed. The temple represented the Hill of Coatepec, where the Mexicans believed Huitzilopochtli was born.
                      The Great Temple of Cholula


  The Great temple of Cholula is also known as Tlachihualtepetl meaning artificial mountain. It is the largest archaeological site of a temple. The pyramid stands 55 meters. In its final form it measures 400 by 400 meters. The pyramid is a temple that has been viewed as the Aztec god Quetzalcoatl. The Temple is located in the San Andres Cholula. The pyramid is one of the largest in the world. The base of the pyramid is 492 yards and it is 72 meters high. Its total volume is estimated to be 4.45 million m3. Upon the arrival of Cortes the temple was destroyed. 

  
  According to myth, the pyramid was built by a giant named Xelhua. The pyramid consists of six superimposed structures; one for each ethnic group dominated it. The Great pyramid was abandoned in the 8th century at a time when the city suffered a drastic drop in population. During the colonial period, the pyramid was severely damaged on its north side in order to build the Camino Real to Puebla. The west was damaged later with the installation of a rail line. From 1930 till today, massive efforts were made to excavate the temple. 
 


To find out more information about the Aztec Temples go to                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            
http://www.aztec-history.com/aztec-temples.html,                                                                   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Pyramid_of_Cholula                                            http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Templo_Mayor, and  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teotihuacan    

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