Three is the magic number

I bet you were all wondering when I was going to get the history book out? Although my time in Mexico City was brief, I did manage to squeeze in a day trip to the pyramids, to a mezcal factory and to Plaza de las Trez Culturas.

Plaza de las Trez Culturas symbolises the unique proposition that is modern day Mexico and the three cultures and historical periods that make this place totally unique.

The site is the old Aztec epicentre ‘Columbian Tialtelolco’, in its hey day it rivalled the the great Teotihuacan empire. Old Mexico city was divided into two holy cities and this was one of them. The city was actually an island and this was one of the main trading routes from the island (as I found out, over time the river bed was filled up and created the metropolis we know today. There are only three pieces of lake left, two are landfills, but luckily the third has been preserved. This is why Mexico city has a real problem with subsiding buildings.) I digress, an important place in Aztec civilisation, this was also where the Aztecs made their last stand against the Spanish conquest, however it fell into the hands of the Hernan Cortes in 1952.

So, we have the Aztec pyramids which were partly dismantled so they Spanish could build their church, and surrounding it there are high rises which symbolise Mexico or ‘mestizos’ today; people made up of three defining cultures.

I’m not sure whether ironic is quite the right word, but this site has also been privy to three tragedies. The first, the last stand of the Aztecs. Secondly, in 1968 as Mexico had the whole world looking on as it hosted the Olympics, a large group of students made a protest here about the current dictator. Although, it’s not altogether sure who took the first shot (recent sources point to the Spanish military), many were killed in the massacre – the figure I recall is around 400 innocent students. Finally, in 1985, there was an earthquake which caused the death of 10,000 Mexicans, unfortunately a lot of these were in this area.

Some say this is a haunted place and apparently on an evening there is strange witchcraft and the like taking place; luckily I did see nor partake in any of this 😉