Where did Montezuma die?
Montezuma was an emperor of the 16th Century ruling over the Aztec empire from one of the greatest capitals in the world at that time- Tenochtitlan in what is now Mexico.
“It was like an enchantment… on account of the great towers and temples rising from the water… things never heard of, nor seen, nor even dreamed.” So wrote the Spanish chronicler Bernal Diaz of the city of some 200, 000 people. Montezuma’s capital was on an island in Lake Texococo which had been enlarged by a system of drain-age canals, and was joined to the shore by causeways.
Across these causeways Hernan Cortes in 1519 led a force of 400 Spaniards, to be greeted by Montezuma as a god. The Spaniards were shown over the shrine-topped pyramids where human sacrifices were made to the Aztecs’ stern war god, Huitzilopochtli.
“The figure… had a very broad face and monstrous and terrible eyes, and the whole of his body was covered with precious stones, and gold and pearls. There were some braziers and in them were burning the hearts of three Indians they had sacrificed that day. Diaz wrote, describing the scene he witnessed with Cortes. The Aztecs held the Spaniards in awe, but suspicion took over and they realized that Cortes was no god. In this atmosphere, Cortes took Montezuma as a hostage. Hostilities flared, and Montezuma was injured and died.
In the NocheTriste or Night of Sadness which followed, the Spaniards were all but annihilated by the Aztecs. Cortes and some of his men escaped. A year later they captured Tenochtitlan and razed it to the ground. The Spaniards built a town upon the ruins. It is still the capital of a nation-Mexico City.
Picture credit: google