The Aztec Empire was a Native American State that ruled much of what is now Mexico from about 1427 until 1521, until the Spaniards conquered the empire. The empire represented the highest point in the development of the rich Aztec civilization that had begun more than a century earlier. At the height of their power, the Aztec controlled a region stretching from the Valley of Mexico, in central Mexico, east to the Gulf of Mexico, and south to Guatemala. The Aztec built great cities and developed a complex social, political, and religious structure.

Their capital, Tenochitlan, was located on the site of present-day Mexico City. An elaborate city built on islands and marshland; Tenochtitlan was possibly the largest city in the world at the time of the Spanish conquest. It featured a huge temple complex, a royal palace, and numerous canals. After the Spanish conquest, the empire of the Aztec was destroyed, but their civilization remained an important influence on the development of Mexican culture. Many present-day Mexicans are descended from the Aztec, and more than 1 million M

les and took over their lands, forcing them to work in gold mines and on Spanish estates. The fall of Tenochtitlan marked the end of the Native American civilizations that had existed Mesoamerica since the first human settlement of the region. On the ruins of Tenochtitlan, the Spaniards built Mexico City. The city's present-day cathedral rises over the ruins of an Aztec temple, and the palace of the Mexican president stands on the site of the palace of Montezuma.

Long before the rise of the Aztec, the Valley of Mexico was the center of a highly developed civilization. A fertile basin, the valley was located 7800 feet above sea level. In its center lay five interconnected lakes dotted with marshy islands. From about AD 100 to 650 the valley was dominated by the city of Teotihuacan, center of a powerful religious, economic, and political state. After the decline of Teotihuacan, the Toltec civilization reached its height in the 10th and 11th centuries.

In about 1427 the Mexica of Tenochtitlan formed a triple alliance with the city-states of Texcoco and Tlacopan (now Tacuba). Under the Mexica ruler Itzcoatl, his successor Montezuma I, and the Texcocan ruler Netzahualcoyotl, the three states began a series of conquests. They eventually established an empire that extended from central Mexico to the Guatemalan border and included many different states and ethnic groups, who were forced to pay tribute to the alliance. Tenochtitlan became the dominant power within the alliance (Taylor, Mills Pg.48). Aztec society was highly structured, based on agriculture, and guided by a religion that pervaded every aspect of life. The Aztec worshipped gods that represented natural forces that were vital to their agricultural economy. Giant stone pyramids topped by temples where human sacrifices were dedicated to the gods dominated Aztec cities. Aztec art was primarily and expression of religion, and even warfare, which increased the emp!

In Mexico City, searches continue to uncover temple foundations, statues, jewelry, and other artifacts of the Aztec civilization. Aztec refers both to the people who founded the empire, who called themselves Mexica, or Tenochca, and more generally, to all of the many other Nahuatl-speaking ethnic groups that lived in the Valley of Mexico at the time of the Spanish conquest. The name Aztec is derived from Aztlan, the mythical homeland of the Mexica; according to traditio

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