OCR Text |
Show llOOK nr. SRCT. XI. Buildings annexed ro the r;re~t 1cmple, II I s T 0 R y 0 F M E X I C 0. crate d to I-I u1' t z1' lopochtli , and the gods of war; and .t he other to T.c z- 1. The other bodies were dcfrined to the keepmg of fome dung cat 1poca. · d 1 ·d 1 b I · t the worlhip and the a!hes of forne kmgs an ot s w 10, e ongtng o . ' 1 ~ d . t· through particular devotiOn, defired that· to be done. T 1e oo~s Ol both fanCl:uaries were towards the well:, and both the towers tcrmmated in a very beautiful woG>den cupola. There is no author ~ho has defcribed the internal difpofition and ornaments f the fanCl:.uancs; nor indeed the fize of the towers; fo that what is rc refentcd 111 our plate is only delineated from conjeCture. I believe, h '.vcver, we may_ v:nture to .fly without danger of mi!bke, that th · he1ght. of the b~uldm g without the towers, was not lefs than nineteen perches, and w1th the towers exceeded twenty-·eight. From that h ~ight one mig!1t fee the bke, the cities around, and a great part of th . valley ; and 1t has been allirmed by cye-witneifes to be the .fineil: prorpeCl: in t~e :""·orld. . In the upper area was the altar for the common iacnfices,. and m the lower that for the gladiatorial. Before the two funCl:uanes were two Jl:one fioves of the height of a man, and of the fhape of our holy pyx, in which they preferved a confiant fire, night and day, wi~h the utmoit care; fearing· that if ever it went out, they !hould fuffer the moft dreadful punilhment from heaven. In the other temples nnd religious buildings comprifed within the inclofure of the great. wal_l, there were fix hundred fioves, of the fame fize and figure, wluch 111 · the night time, when they ufed all to be burning, prefented a very pleafing fight. In the fpace betwixt the wall and the great temple, there were, befides a place for their religious dances, upwards of forty leifer temples, confecrated to the other gods, feveral colleges of priefts, fome feminaries for youth and children of both ~exes, and many other bui~dings fcattcred about, of which, for their fingubrity, it .will be neceliary to give fome account. The moft remarkable were the temples of Tezcatlipoca, Tlaloc, and ~Ct,L;alcoatl. They all refembled one another in form, but were f different fizes, and all fronted the great temple; while the other tempk:s without this area were built with the front towards the weft. The temple of Quetzalcoatl alone differed from the reft in fprm; it being r<?u nd, the others all <} uadi·angular. The door of ' this H I S T 0 R Y 0 F M E X I C 0. this fanduary was the month of an enormous ferpent of ftone, armed with fangs. Some Spaniards tempted by curiofity to go into that diabolical temple, afterwards confeif~.:d the horror which they fdt upon entering it. Among oth r..:r templt:s th<: re was one called 1/huzi:atitlm, dedicated to the pla11ct Venus, in which was a great pillar with the figure of that ftar painted or engraved upon it; near which, at the time of her appearance, they facrificed prifoncrs. The colleges of pridls, and the fcmin arics were various; but we ·particularly know only of five colleges or monail:eries of pricfts, and three feminaries of youth, although there mui1: certainly have been more, from the prodigious number of perfons that were found there conf<.:crated to the wor!hip of the gods. Among the rcm·arkable buil lings within this area, bcfiJes the four arfc nals over the four gates, there was another near the temple Tezcrzca! li (houfe of mirrors), fo called from its walls being cove red with mirrors on the inlide. There was another fmall temple called 'Tecciz.ca! li, all adorned with ihclls which had a houfe annexed to it, into which, a~ certain times, the king of Mexico retired for the pu rpofcs of fail:ing and prayer. The high-priell: had likewife a houfe of retirement called Pojauhtlan, and there were fcveral others for other perfons. There was alfo a great houfc of entertainment to accommodnte ll:rangers of diil:inCl:ion who came upon a devout vifit to the temple, or from curiofity to fee the grandeurs of the court. There were ponds in which the priefts bathed ; and foun rains, the water of which they drank. In the pond calJed Tez cczpan, many bathed in obedience to a particular vow made to the gods. The water of one of the fountains called Toxpalatl was efteemed holy : it was drank only at the moil: folemn feail:s, and no perfon was allow~::d to tail:e it at any other time (d). 'l:'here were places allotted to the bringing up of birds for the facrilices, gardens in which flowers and odoriferous herbs were raifed for the decoration of the altars; and even a little wood in which were artificially (d) The fountain 7'o.xpalat!, the water of which wns excellent, was Jloppcd up, nt the time when the Spaniards detlroyctl the temple; it w:u opened ugain in 1582, in the little fr1uare of the Marquis (which at prefenr is called el Empcrlradillo), neur to the cathcdr:tl; but for fomc: rcnfott or other, of which we :tre ignorant, it was a fccond time fiopl>Cd up. VoL. I. Mm repre- 265 BOOK VI· ~ |