Aztec architecture: Difference between revisions

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== Influences ==

Aztec architecture reflects the migration of the Aztec culture across present-day [[Mexico]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|last=Aguilar-Moreno|first=Manuel|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZseasJq3WzEC&dq=aztec+architecture&pg=PR5|title=Handbook to Life in the Aztec World|date=2007|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-533083-0|language=en}}</ref> The style of early Aztec pyramids was influenced by those of Classic and other Postclassic [[Mesoamerican architecture|Mesoamerican]] societies.<ref name=":0" /> Aztec architecture subsequently influenced later Mesoamerican styles.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Rice|first=Don Stephen|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=k2uX2NnOH9EC&pg=PA295|title=Latin American Horizons: A Symposium at Dumbarton Oaks, 11th and 12th October 1986|date=1993|publisher=Dumbarton Oaks|isbn=978-0-88402-207-7|language=en}}</ref> As Manuel Aguilar-Moreno writes, "Aztec architecture was heavily influenced by the [[Toltec]] of [[ Pueblo|Colhuacan]], the [[Tepanec]] of [[AtzcapotzalcoAzcapotzalco]], and the Acolhua of [[Texcoco, State of Mexico|Tetzcoco]]".<ref>{{cite book |last1=Aguilar-Moreno |first1=Manuel |title=Handbook to Life in the Aztec World |date=2007 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-533083-0 |page=217 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZseasJq3WzEC&dq=aztec+architectural+style&pg=PR5 |access-date=7 March 2023}}</ref> It is important to note that since the Aztec Empire was largely built through conquest, the Aztecs had the challenge of incorporating the ethnic groups of the regions they conquered into one unified empire. By having a distinct architectural style, the Aztec Empire was able to promote its worldview and showcase the power of the Empire's military.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Aguilar-Moreno |first1=Manuel |title=Handbook to Life in the Aztec World |date=2007 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-533083-0 |page=218 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZseasJq3WzEC&dq=aztec+architectural+style&pg=PR5 |access-date=7 March 2023}}</ref>

The ancient Aztecs focused on cosmology, astronomy, and religion as their main sources of inspiration. Aztec religious beliefs are reflected in the designs of the religious structures as well as domestic structures.<ref name=":0" /> Research into the significance of building alignment in Aztec culture has shown that the dates of sunrises and sunsets along architectural orientation exhibit a pattern of separated intervals that are largely multiples of 13 and 20 days. This detail suggests to experts that the orientation of these structures was related to the [[Mesoamerican calendars|Mesoamerican calendrical system]]. It has also been discovered that the dates that occur most frequently in these orientations align with important days in the ritual agricultural cycle of the Aztecs.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Šprajc |first1=Ivan |title=Astronomical Alignments at the Templo Mayor of Tenochtitlan, Mexico |url=https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/002182860003102502 |journal=Journal for the History of Astronomy |year=2000 |volume=31 |issue=25 |publisher=Science History Publications, Ltd. |access-date=7 March 2023 |page=1|doi=10.1177/002182860003102502 |s2cid=117355888 }}</ref>