Where was the city of Tenochtitlan built?

Answer 1

Before Tenochtitlan was founded, the Aztecs were a nomadic people whose religion stated that whenever they saw a golden eagle, perched atop a cactus and devouring a snake, they had to settle and build a 'great city'. They found such sign in a swampy, small island in Lake Texcoco. This prophecy was immortalized in the Mexican coat of arms.

Now, not deterred by the unfavourable terrain, they set about building their city, using the chinampa system (misnamed as "floating gardens") for agriculture and to dry and expand the island. Basically, such system requires building levees and then filling the reclaimed land with soil. Such system was also implemented - faster and with better technology, of course - by the Dutch people to reclaim land from the sea.
The wandering "Aztec" tribe saw a vision of an eagle on a cactus, and this was foretold to them that this sign would signal the place where they should settle and build their city on a "promised land".

Answer 2

Before Tenochtitlan was founded, the Aztecs were a nomadic people whose religion stated that whenever they saw a golden eagle, perched atop a cactus and devouring a snake, they had to settle and build a 'great city'. They found such sign in a swampy, small island in Lake Texcoco. This prophecy was immortalized in the Mexican coat of arms.

Now, not deterred by the unfavourable terrain, they set about building their city, using the chinampa system (misnamed as "floating gardens") for agriculture and to dry and expand the island. Basically, such system requires building levees and then filling the reclaimed land with soil. Such system was also implemented - faster and with better technology, of course - by the Dutch people to reclaim land from the sea.

Answer 3

Tenochtitlán was an Aztec city that flourished between A.D. 1325 and 1521. Built on an island on Lake Texcoco, it had a system of canals and causeways that supplied the hundreds of thousands of people who lived there.

It was largely destroyed by the Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés after a siege in 1521, and modern-day Mexico City now lies over much of its remains. In a 1520 letter written to King Charles I of Spain, Cortés described the city that he would soon attack:

"The city is as big as Seville or Cordoba. The main streets are very wide and very straight; some of these are on the land, but the rest and all the smaller ones are half on land, half canals where they paddle their canoes." (From "An Age of Voyages: 1350-1600," by Mary Wiesner-Hanks, Oxford University Press, 2005) It is truly believed however that the Aztecs built all of this themselves. As far as I can see it seems reasonable.

Answer 4

The Aztec city of Tenochtitlan was built on Lake Texcoco. Construction of the city started around 1325 AD, though historians do not know specifically how long it took to construct the city.

Answer 5

Central Mexico, present-day Mexico City.

Answer 6

On the marshy islands of Lake Texcoco.