Mexico City: The Flight of the Eagle
Text and photographs by Eduardo Barraza Photos of the Great Temple
Mexico City - Past and present collide right in front of the amazed eyes of the spectator who stands
between the ruins of the Templo Mayor or Great Temple, and the Metropolitan Cathedral in
downtown Mexico City. Two cultures, two spiritual beliefs, and two symbols are contiguous to each
other, not only physically, but in an idiosyncratic coexistence that blends two tongues, two struggles,
and two peoples into one single identity. An ambiguous identity fathered by one continent and bore
by another, a dramatic and fierce fusion that gave birth to a great nation.
This is the land of the Mexicas (Me-shee-cas) or Aztecs –Tenochtitlan (te-noch-teet-lahn,) the territory
where their god Huitzilopochtli (wee-tsee-loh-poch'-tlee) led them, the mythical region where they
expected to see an eagle perched upon a nopal (prickly pear cactus) devouring a serpent, the
indubitable sign to posses the land. Today, even in ruins, the Mexicas or Aztecs are majestic,
imposing, frightening. What’s left of their grandeur hints of the sensation of thrill their war prisoners
experienced in their last moments of life, before the sharp obsidian knife reached their beating hearts
to accomplish its sacrificial end.
History is alive. History is breathing. History is an open wound. Downtown Mexico City resists leaving
behind her past. In doing this, it reminds us through the cold stone of the ancient structures of the
triumph and the tragedy that both built and destroyed an empire. “Don’t you dare forgive,” yells the
fierce stone snake at you; “don’t you dare forget,” whispers the fearsome, fully-chromed Chacmool,
laying in its everlasting posture. The remnants of a splendorous kingdom have a voice, a conscience,
an eternal fate that vows not to let you forgive nor forget.
New generations walk by the ruins conscious and reverent, unaware and irreverent, amazed or
indifferent. But the people, the Mexican people, the sons and daughters of the Aztecs, are still the
proud people who despise the Spanish conquerors, and admire their past glory, their ancestors. To
know their history, all they need to do is walk on it. The ruins and remains are their history’s
textbook, wide open for all to see, to read, to breathe. Unafraid of stepping on the large spines of
the nopal, this cohort of new Mexicans are certain they are a contemporary eagle who will always
devour the serpent. Seeking to find new heights, Mexicans of the new Millennium, fly with their wings
extended.
Yesterday is today in Mexico City. The echo of prehispanic times reverberates in the present-day
Aztec dancers. With their splendorous and colorful featherworks, they make ancient times fresh as
the morning’s dew. Their rhythmic movements, the sounds of their rattles and drums, and their
physical appearance transport you to the past in the blink of an eye. The street vendors are here
today as they were yesterday; their voices bouncing back from old walls attracting potential buyers.
The medicine-men, amid the smoke of burning incense, invoke ancient gods, in spite of five centuries
of Catholicism. Much has changed; much remains the same. Today is yesterday in Mexico City.
The city of the Aztecs is not an island anymore nor is it surrounded by a lake. Today, Mexico City is a
megalopolis of 18 million people, one of the largest in the world. However, this city is passionate
about its marvelous history, a passion reflected in the meticulous care the people have devoted to
rescuing the past. Walking on its downtown streets, there is no need to travel through a time’s
tunnel to go back in time; the past is right there, before our very eyes, so real that it is part of the
present, and will be part of the future. Thus, Mexico City has become a three-dimensional metropolis
where the past, present and future are one, and where layers of history are as visible and current as
the news in today’s newspaper.
between the ruins of the Templo Mayor or Great Temple, and the Metropolitan Cathedral in
downtown Mexico City. Two cultures, two spiritual beliefs, and two symbols are contiguous to each
other, not only physically, but in an idiosyncratic coexistence that blends two tongues, two struggles,
and two peoples into one single identity. An ambiguous identity fathered by one continent and bore
by another, a dramatic and fierce fusion that gave birth to a great nation.
This is the land of the Mexicas (Me-shee-cas) or Aztecs –Tenochtitlan (te-noch-teet-lahn,) the territory
where their god Huitzilopochtli (wee-tsee-loh-poch'-tlee) led them, the mythical region where they
expected to see an eagle perched upon a nopal (prickly pear cactus) devouring a serpent, the
indubitable sign to posses the land. Today, even in ruins, the Mexicas or Aztecs are majestic,
imposing, frightening. What’s left of their grandeur hints of the sensation of thrill their war prisoners
experienced in their last moments of life, before the sharp obsidian knife reached their beating hearts
to accomplish its sacrificial end.
History is alive. History is breathing. History is an open wound. Downtown Mexico City resists leaving
behind her past. In doing this, it reminds us through the cold stone of the ancient structures of the
triumph and the tragedy that both built and destroyed an empire. “Don’t you dare forgive,” yells the
fierce stone snake at you; “don’t you dare forget,” whispers the fearsome, fully-chromed Chacmool,
laying in its everlasting posture. The remnants of a splendorous kingdom have a voice, a conscience,
an eternal fate that vows not to let you forgive nor forget.
New generations walk by the ruins conscious and reverent, unaware and irreverent, amazed or
indifferent. But the people, the Mexican people, the sons and daughters of the Aztecs, are still the
proud people who despise the Spanish conquerors, and admire their past glory, their ancestors. To
know their history, all they need to do is walk on it. The ruins and remains are their history’s
textbook, wide open for all to see, to read, to breathe. Unafraid of stepping on the large spines of
the nopal, this cohort of new Mexicans are certain they are a contemporary eagle who will always
devour the serpent. Seeking to find new heights, Mexicans of the new Millennium, fly with their wings
extended.
Yesterday is today in Mexico City. The echo of prehispanic times reverberates in the present-day
Aztec dancers. With their splendorous and colorful featherworks, they make ancient times fresh as
the morning’s dew. Their rhythmic movements, the sounds of their rattles and drums, and their
physical appearance transport you to the past in the blink of an eye. The street vendors are here
today as they were yesterday; their voices bouncing back from old walls attracting potential buyers.
The medicine-men, amid the smoke of burning incense, invoke ancient gods, in spite of five centuries
of Catholicism. Much has changed; much remains the same. Today is yesterday in Mexico City.
The city of the Aztecs is not an island anymore nor is it surrounded by a lake. Today, Mexico City is a
megalopolis of 18 million people, one of the largest in the world. However, this city is passionate
about its marvelous history, a passion reflected in the meticulous care the people have devoted to
rescuing the past. Walking on its downtown streets, there is no need to travel through a time’s
tunnel to go back in time; the past is right there, before our very eyes, so real that it is part of the
present, and will be part of the future. Thus, Mexico City has become a three-dimensional metropolis
where the past, present and future are one, and where layers of history are as visible and current as
the news in today’s newspaper.
The ruins and remains are this city's history textbook, wide open for all to see, to read, to breathe.
Eduardo Barraza is a journalist and writer,
Barriozona Magazine's editor, and director of
the Hispanic Insitute of Social Issues.
E-mail: editor@barriozona.com
Barriozona Magazine's editor, and director of
the Hispanic Insitute of Social Issues.
E-mail: editor@barriozona.com
Published by the Hispanic Institute of Social Issues in Phoenix, Arizona
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The ruins of the Great temple and the
Metropolitan Cathedral.
Metropolitan Cathedral.
Stone snake.
Chacmool in the Great Temple
Modern street vendors
