Aztec emperor’s final resting place found
The remains of an Aztec palace where emperor Moctezuma II was held captive by the Spanish and killed in 1520 has been discovered in Mexico City. Historical records say that the Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés took Moctezuma hostage and held him in the palace in an attempt to force the emperor to control the Aztec population. The people quickly rebelled and laid siege to the palace. The Spanish tried to quell the rebellion by having Moctezuma address the rebels from a palace balcony, but the rebels refused to stop their siege and the emperor was killed in the crossfire. The Spanish eventually destroyed the rebel forces along with the Aztec city of Tenochtitlan, where modern-day Mexico City is located. The surviving Aztec people were forced to build a new city over the ruins of Tenochtitlan. A house for Cortés, which was also discovered by archaeologists during the excavation, was built over the remains of the palace. The discovery of the palace and Cortés’ house revives the memory of those historical events, five centuries later. The discovery was made during excavation work conducted beneath the Nacional Monte de Piedad, a pawnshop founded in 1775. The excavation work was carried out prior to renovation work being done.