Tenochtitlan: the city under Mexico City

The Aztec city of Tenochtitlan was founded in 1325 and became the most influential and powerful city in Mesoamerica by the 15^th century. As the most important Aztec centre, Tenochtitlan was an extremely beautiful and grand city with highly stylized architecture and a symmetrically organized feel to the cityscape. 

illustration of what Tenochtitlan was thought to have looked like
http://www.latinamericanstudies.org/aztecs1.htm

current day Mexico City
http://mesolore.org/tutorials/learn/22/Life-Beside-the-Water/
70/Community-and-Household

When the colonization wars began in Mexico however, much of this grand city would be destroyed. Tenochtitlan was completely demolished by the Spanish colonialists for the purpose of establishing a new city on the site. This served as a literal symbol of defeat and power over the Aztecs and essentially crushed any chance of competition between the colonialists and the Aztecs. By building the new capital directly on top of the ruins of Tenochtitlan, the colonialists made a strong political statement that they were now the new governors of the region. A specific example of the extent of the destruction and reconstruction is in relation to Tenochtitlan’s central temple complex the Templo Mayor. The temple complex was completely destroyed during the construction of a catholic cathedral and the new central district of the colonial city was built on its ruins.