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The reader who has accompanied us from the beginning of this volume and perused the history of the Spanish conquest, has doubtless become somewhat familiar with the great square of ancient Tenochtitlan, its Teocalli, or pyramidal temple, and the bloody rites that were celebrated upon it, by the Aztec priests and princes. It served as a place of sacrifice, not only for the Indian victims of war, but streamed with the blood of the unfortunate Spaniards who fell into the power of the Mexicans when Cortéz was driven from the city.

This Teocalli is said to have been completed in the year 1486, during the reign of the eighth sovereign of Tenochtitlan or Mexico, and occupied that portion of the present city upon which the cathedral stands and which is occupied by some of the adjacent streets and buildings. Its massive proportions and great extent may be estimated from the restoration of this edifice, which we have attempted to form from the best authorities, and have presented in a plate in the preceding portion of this work.

The Mexican theology indulged in two kinds of sacrifice, one