Essay Example on Tenochtitlan

Tenochtitlan was not only the pique of city planning at its time but was also a central part of the economics for the entire Aztec empire and imperial stability. Tenochtitlan was built on an island in the western part of Lake Texcoco, south of its sister city of Tlatelolco. The city's landscaping was also important related to how the city functioned. There were four main zones of the city, each divided into 20 districts. Each district had public buildings, temples dedicated to their deities, palaces, as well as marketplaces. There was also the main marketplace in Tlatelolco. Since Tenochtitlan was built on an island, the Aztecs used causeways to travel to the mainland of the empire, canals to navigate their city, as well as using an advanced aqueduct system to supply water to the city and the island. Any construction in the city had to be approved by an imperial official in charge of city planning, which in Nahuatl is called the calmimilocatl. This city planning shows the intuitiveness the Aztecs had around using their environmental situation to their advantage. The Aztec empire was a monarchy, under the absolute rule of the king. However, despite the monarchical system, there were still other class groups. Commoners who lived outside Tenochtitlan or were farmers, merchants, skilled workers, or lower priests were called macehualtin, nobles who were related to leaders or formal leaders were called pipeline, who lived inside the island, and detection was the highest class–people, including military leaders, high priests, landowners, and judges, or people who ruled parts of the empire, which included the king. Tenochtitlan was also the capital of the Aztec trade system; the Aztecs’ economic system was based on trade and agriculture, and they traded gold precious gems, cotton, tobacco, pottery, tools, and weapons, as well as crops. Their primary crop was corn, and they also grew large amounts of potatoes, beans, squash, tomatoes, and avocados. Interestingly, the English and Spanish words for avocado, chile, coyote, guacamole, and xocolatl, meaning chocolate in English, were originally Nahuatl words, which shows the far reaches the Aztecs had even on other civilizations after their civilization disappeared. This trading system as well as city layout kept the Aztecs organized, ultimately keeping the empire in a stable place.