Templo Mayor★★★
Right next to the cathedral lies one of the most spectacular archaeological discoveries of the 20th century: the Templo Mayor, the main temple of the Aztec capital Tenochtitlán.
In 1978, construction workers accidentally discovered a massive stone disc of the moon goddess Coyolxauhqui — and with it, the buried temple that had been hidden under the colonial city since the Spanish conquest in 1521. The excavations revealed seven overlapping temple layers (the Aztecs built a new temple over the old one every 52 years).
The associated Museo del Templo Mayor displays over 7,000 artifacts: offerings, skull walls (Tzompantli), jaguar sculptures, and the famous Coyolxauhqui disc. Here, one can grasp how advanced — and bloody — the Aztec civilization was.
💡 Tipp
Visit the museum first, then the ruins — this way you understand what you see. The audio guide (50 MXN) is absolutely worth it.
