What happened to the Aztec capital city of Tenochtitlan?
Mexico City was built over what was Tenochtitlan. The Spaniards practically razed Tenochtitln. Corts first settled in Coyoacn, but decided to rebuild the Aztec site in order to erase all traces of the old order. Corts did not establish an independent, conquered territory under his own personal rule, but remained loyal to the Spanish crown. The first viceroy of the new domain arrived in Mexico City fourteen years later. By that time, the city had again become a city-state, having power that extended far beyond the city’s established borders. Although the Spanish preserved Tenochtitln’s basic layout, they built Catholic churches over the old Aztec temples and claimed the imperial palaces for themselves. Tenochtitln was renamed “Mexico”, its alternative form name, as the Spanish found this easier to say.
