User:SunPearl/Aztec architecture

Architecture and Culture (Gavin)

The Aztecs designed their buildings to be functional for everyday life as well as having a major importance on buildings for religious practices, and the gods that they worshiped. The architectural style of the Aztecs reflected relationships with a higher power. In Tenochtitlan, the layout of the city represented the birth of Huitzilopochtli, the Aztec god of the sun and war.

The teocalli, or pyramid-temples, were significant to Aztec religious practices. They were the sites of religious celebrations and rituals. The temples represented ascension. There were multiple torn levels, which each correlated with different classes. The Aztecs believed that ascension was the process of preparing oneself to please the gods. At the top was the main temple where sacrifices took place, since that was considered to be closest to the gods.^{[citation needed]}

In Cholula, Puebla a Central Aztec temple was discovered in 1978. This temple was used to worship their sun and war deity Huitzilopochtli, and the deity of fertility, water, and rain,Tlaloc. The temple contain alters where they would leave offerings, which were mainly animals and hand made sculptures. The temple also contained an alter where they would make sacrifices to the gods. They used red and blue paint to decorate the temple

Aztec households were simple and uniform to the rest of the civilization. Houses could be one to two stories tall.

There is a large circular building resembling a lecture hall that was believed to be a place were the Aztecs would hold governmental affairs.

Separation of classes

Aztec culture had class stratification. The highest social rank was that of the priesthood, which permitted access to the temples and more exclusive quarters. Members of the priesthood lived near the temples in the central areas of the city, while people of lower classes lived increasingly further away according to their status. The sizes of domestic structures reflected differences in wealth, power, and status. Those who were considered in the lower social ranks had homes made up of adobe brick, and varied in size. Those who considered to be higher class had homes made of cut stone, they had more rooms and were larger homes compared to those of a lower class, they also found things of status like jewelry in these homes.

Aztec Architecture Today (Keylee)

Disappearance

In modern times there are few ruins of the Aztec Empire remaining. There are many theories as to why there are so few ruins left of the Aztec empire. One of these theories is that there is just not enough information on how the Aztec empire ran. It could have been more agriculturally based and less building based. The Aztecs could have been focused on farming rather than building durable structures. We just do not know, there have not been enough archaeological digs to know. Another theory is that there is evidence that it was a looser system of tributaries rather than a tightly connected empire. The Aztecs may have been more worried about what they could get. Not bothering to simulate others to their beliefs.

The Mexico City Metropolitan Cathedral

Much of the Aztec infrastructure was also destroyed by the Spanish. The Spanish Conquistadors would establish Mexico City over top of the remains of Tenochtitlan in 1521. They would raze the city to the ground on their way to taking it back. Only small pockets of the city would survive and subsequently be built over. Such as the Spanish building of the first Cathedral in Latin America called the Metropolitan Cathedral. It now resided above an Aztec Temple called Templo Mayor.

References

Smith, Michael E., and Frances F. Berdan. "Archaeology and the Aztec Empire." World Archaeology 23, no. 3 (1992): 353-67/ http://ww.jstor.org/stable/124768

Coe, Michael D. (2019). Mexico: From the Olmecs to the Aztecs. Ancient Peoples and Places Series. Javier Urcid Serrano (8th edition.). London: Thames & Hudson, Limited. ISBN 978-0-500-29373-7.

Croissant, Morgane. "The Largest and Oldest Cathedral in Latin America Is Built on Top of an Aztec Temple." Matador Network. Jun 1, 20023. https://matadornetwork.com/read/mexico-city-metropolian-cathedral/.

Hodge, Mary G. “Archaeological Views of Aztec Culture.” Journal of Archaeological Research 6, no. 3 (1998): 195–238. http://www.jstor.org/stable/41053158.