Aztec People Farming on a Floating Island |
Structure of the CityThe first Aztec city was Tenochtitlan, located on a small island in Lake Texcoco. Tenochtitlan was the biggest city in the world before the Spanish conquest. They grew food on man-made islands called floating gardens. The islands also were a great defense mechanism. The islands surrounded Tenochitlan, therefore the armies could not march over water and they could only go over the 3 bridges in the city. During wars, the Aztecs would look for enemies on the bridge and if they saw someone coming, they would cut the ropes holding the bridge up. Another advantage of living on an island was transportation. Boats were much faster and easier than using humans or animals and they could carry more. The land of the Aztecs started in the middle of the Mexico Valley and went as far south as the Guatemala border. During the height of the empire, the population reached 5 million, making the Aztecs a force to be reckoned with.
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