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Fall of Tenochtitlan

After a siege of almost three months, Cortés’s Spaniards and their Indigenous allies took Tenochtitlan and captured Cuauhtémoc, the last tlatoani; the Aztec Empire fell.

Date
13 August 1521exact dateDate in the Julian calendar
Place
Tenochtitlantoday: Mexico City, Mexico · Latin America
Participants
Hernán Cortés, Spanish Empire, Aztec Empire
Threads
Age of Discovery and the New World
Also known as
Гибель Теночтитлана; Осада Теночтитлана

The city, ravaged by famine and smallpox, was stormed along the causeways from the mainland and from the lake with brigantines built by the Spaniards. The bulk of the besieging army consisted of Cortés’s Indigenous allies, above all the warriors of Tlaxcala. Mexico City was founded on the ruins of Tenochtitlan.

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Related events

  • Dedication of the Great Temple of Tenochtitlan1487 · Latin Americaafter taking Tenochtitlan in 1521, the Spaniards tore down the Great Temple, and Mexico City Cathedral rose on the site of the Aztec sacred precinct
  • Cry of Dolores16 September 1810 · Latin AmericaThree centuries of Spanish rule in Mexico, from the fall of Tenochtitlan to the start of the War of Independence

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Sources

  1. Wikipedia (English): Fall of Tenochtitlan
  2. Wikipedia (Russian): Гибель Теночтитлана
  3. Thomas H. Conquest: Montezuma, Cortés, and the Fall of Old Mexico. — New York: Simon & Schuster, 1993.
  4. Wikidata: Q593267