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Reference.org
Tenochtitlan
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<p>Tenochtitlan, also known as Mexico-Tenochtitlan, was a large Mexican <i><a href="/facts/Altepetl/yaDCFNmk">altepetl</a></i> in what is now the <a href="/facts/Historic_center_of_Mexico_City/KJptk6hx">historic center of Mexico City</a>. The exact date of the founding of the city is unclear, but the date 13 March 1325 was chosen in 1925 to celebrate the 600th anniversary of the city. The city was built on an island in what was then <a href="/facts/Lake_Texcoco/HWPLRrbp">Lake Texcoco</a> in the <a href="/facts/Valley_of_Mexico/ptTdmJjh">Valley of Mexico</a>. The city was the capital of the expanding <a href="/facts/Aztec_Empire/S1tpgRNR">Aztec Empire</a> in the 15th century until it was <a href="/facts/Fall_of_Tenochtitlan/tCc0lbW5">captured by the Tlaxcaltec and the Spanish in 1521</a>. </p><p>At its peak, it was the largest <a href="/facts/City-state/aj1EjbYy">city</a> in the <a href="/facts/Pre-Columbian/0Ntjleee">pre-Columbian</a> <a href="/facts/Americas/hEuUTL4K">Americas</a>. It subsequently became a <i><a href="/facts/Municipalities_of_Mexico/HMAC5MRW">cabecera</a></i> of the <a href="/facts/Viceroyalty_of_New_Spain/NYaDwcqK">Viceroyalty of New Spain</a>. Today, the ruins of Tenochtitlan are in the historic center of the Mexican capital. The World Heritage Site of <a href="/facts/Xochimilco/7NYmEqkw">Xochimilco</a> contains what remains of the geography (water, boats, <a href="/facts/Chinampa/0nfn5rCA">floating gardens</a>) of the Mexica capital. </p><p>Tenochtitlan was one of two Mexica <i><a href="/facts/Altepetl/yaDCFNmk">āltepētl</a></i> (<a href="/facts/City-state/aj1EjbYy">city-states</a> or <a href="/facts/Polity/0R8Wr4CL">polities</a>) on the island, the other being <a href="/facts/Tlatelolco_(altepetl)/s4AMIxmQ">Tlatelolco</a>. </p>