Architectural Styles

Aztec

Alt names / subperiods 

Timeline

Distinguishing Features

Geographic Presence

Post Classic Mesoamerican, Mexica

Wikipedia

 

1325-1521

  • Temple platforms
  • water management
  • stepped structures
  • cavolcanic stone & limestone
  • adobe & brick
  • cities with grid layout
  • central plaza (zocalo)
  • celestial-alignment
  • carvings
  • reliefs & murals
  • colourful inlays incl torquoise, obsidian & shell
  • transport infrastructure
  • Mexico

Common Building Types

Landmark buildings

Accommodation Types

Accommodation Examples

  • Step pyramids (teocalli)
  • royal palaces
  • canals & causeways
  • floating gardens (chinampas)
  • ball courts
  • marketplaces
  • road networks
  • diverse housing,
  • Tenochtitlán (Great Pyramid of the Sun)
  • Pyramid of the moon
  • Great Temple
  • Temple of Quetzalcoatl)
  • Great Pyramid of Cholula
  • Palace of Moctezuma II
  • Tlaxcala
  • Temples of the Sun and Moon at Xochicalco
  • The Aztec state supported long-distance travel for Pochteca (elite long-distance merchants), Imperial messenger, Tribute official, Military envoys
  • Temazcal (steam baths)
  • Pochteca Hostels (often associated with merchant guilds , near markets (tianquiztli) or administrative precincts)
  • Community Lodges
  • State Waystations at provincial administrative centres
  • Elite residences
  • Tribute Collection Points
  • Palace compounds (tecpan)
  • Merchant quarters near markets
  • Pochteca hostels & other traveller accommodation described in early colonial sources such as Bernardino de Sahagún’s Florentine Codex or Codex Mendoza

Landmarks