Mexico city - History

For the Pre-Columbian history of the city, see: Tenochtitlán.
Much of current area of Mexico City was under the waters of Lake Texcoco until the 16th century.

Spanish Conquistador Hernán Cortés first arrived in the area of the city, then the Aztec capital Tenochtitlán, in 1519, but did not succeed in conquering the city until August 13, 1521, after long fierce fighting that destroyed most of the old Aztec city.

View of the Cathedral on the Zócalo, about 1900Mexico City was built on the ruins of Tenochtitlán and the city became the center of political, religious, economical and cultural power of the Spanish colony, New Spain. On top of the ruins of the Aztec empire, and very often using materials from destroyed Aztec buildings, the Spanish built a new city. The area between the island and the closest shore to the west was drained and filled in, making the city a peninsula rather than an island. Further draining of the lake allowed further expansion of the city over the ensuing centuries, as Mexico City became the largest city in the Americas, from where all of New Spain and later the Philippines would be governed.

After independence from Spain in 1821, Mexico City was briefly the capital of the Mexican Empire under Iturbide, and from 1823 on the capital of the Republic of Mexico.

The city has twice been occupied by foreign invaders: in 1847 by the United States, during the Mexican-American War; and in 1864 by the French, who for a time installed puppet ruler Maximilian of Habsburg.

In 1873 the first railroad line linking the capital to the coast at Veracruz opened.

Mexico City hosted the 1968 Summer Olympics, during a period of political unrest that led to the Tlatelolco massacre of student protestors immediately preceding the inauguration of the games.