The ancient Aztecs built beautiful,
extraordinary religious structures, homes, and other buildings during
their empire's reign. The Aztecs valued craftsmanship, and this can
be seen in the buildings that they built.
Religion and praying to the gods was an
everyday ritual for the Aztecs, and this meant that constructing
temples was an important part of their society. Aztec cities would
compete with each other to build the best temples in the empire.
Instead of building a new temple each time the city wanted to make
improvements, they simply built over the old temple. Aztec temples
could have three or four layers, and one temple had six layers! Each
layer was better than the previous layer. The new layer would be
bigger and more extravagant than the last layer. The new layers also
had more steps and a bigger sacrificial area. The sacrificial area
was a flat space on top of the temple. The Aztecs believed in human
sacrifices to please the gods, and they sacrificed over 20,000 people
a year on top of these temples. The Aztecs also built many shrines to
honor their gods. Some shrines were built for a specific god, while
others were built to give offerings.
The emperor's palace was also an
extravagant building. The palace had two floors and a courtyard.
Inside the palace, there were four main rooms - the reception
chamber, the personal apartments, the meeting chamber, and the
tribute store, where all of the gifts that the emperor received were
stored. The palace was elaborately decorated with gold panels,
carvings, and painting.
The homes of the Aztec people were made
of adobe. Adobe is a material made from dirt and water. They had
thatched roofs. Instead of having separate rooms in the house, there
was only one big room. This room was divided into four areas - the
sleeping area, the kitchen, the shrine for the gods, and an eating
area. Aztecs nobles had similar homes, but their homes were usually
bigger. Their homes would also be made from better materials. Instead
of the typical adobe homes, the nobles' homes would be made of lime
or stone. These homes would be decorated elaborately, whereas the
commoners were not allowed to decorate their homes in such a way. All
of the houses also had steam baths because the doctors believed it
was important for everyone to have access to one. A fire had to be
constantly burning for the steam bath to work. The fire was placed on
the wall, and water was poured on the wall to create the steam.
The Aztec Empire built incredible
architecture. Many of the ruins can still be seen today. They left
behind a rich history of religion, tradition, and culture for people
to learn about today.
