Tlacopan

Tlacopan ( emphasis on the middle syllable, Nahuatl: Tlacopan formed from tlacōtl, rod, stick, and the Lokalsuffix - pan, in the area of ... a meaningful translation is not possible from it ) was a formerly important city-state in Pre-Columbian Mesoamerica. He lay on the western shore of Lake Texcoco and was connected by a causeway to the Aztec capital, Tenochtitlan.

Pre-Columbian time

Initially owned the Tlacopan founded by Tlacomatzin to the realm of Tepanecs and was a vassal state of the neighboring Azcapotzalcos. After the death of the King of Azcapotzalcos in the year 1427/1428, however, Tlacopan allied with Tenochtitlan and Texcoco - until then also tributary states - and subjected the former great power, then sank into insignificance. It took over the leadership and increased as a member of the Aztec Triple Alliance on itself at the relevant political force in the region. Thus was Totoquihuaztli, the ruler of Tlacopan, at this time the title Tepaneca tecuhtli ( " ruler of the Tepanecs " ), which he probably took over by the rulers of Atzcapotzalco. Although Tlacopan the Aztecs against always behaved loyally, it remained the weakest partner in the Aztec Triple Alliance and received only a fifth of the tribute payments that resulted from the joint conquest.

Spanish conquest

After the so-called Noche Triste ( " Sad Night " ) put Hernán Cortés after the expulsion from Tenochtitlán here his first stop a.

The destruction of Tenochtitlan in 1521 Tlacopan was razed to the ground. Here raged particularly heavy fighting, because one of the causeway bridges that connected the Aztec capital with the mainland, here was their starting point.

Modern Times

After the conquest by the Spaniards sat down by the increasingly adapted to the Spanish pronunciation Name Tacuba. Tacuba was one of the few permanent, ie not to the lifetime of the beneficiary and his immediate descendants limited Encomienden. She had been awarded on the occasion of her marriage to the legitimate daughter of Moctezuma, Isabel on June 27, 1526 Hernán Cortés.

Tacuba remained until the end of the 19th century a separate municipality, which had around 10,000 inhabitants. Today Tacuba is a district of Mexico City, which is mainly dominated by industrial plants and belongs to the administrative district " Miguel Hidalgo ". As a point of interest is, inter alia, the " Arbol de la Noche Triste " ( "Tree of the Sad Night " ) to mention: Under this Mexican cypress to Hernán Cortés the legend have mourned after his initial defeat in Tenochtitlan.