The Day Tenochtitlan Fell

On August 13, 1521, the Mexica capital of Tenochtitlan surrendered to Hernan Cortes and his army, ending one of the most powerful empires in the Americas. The island city, built on Lake Texcoco and home to perhaps 200,000 people, had been one of the largest urban centres on Earth.

Cortes did not conquer alone. He commanded only a few hundred Spaniards but was joined by tens of thousands of Indigenous allies, above all the Tlaxcalteca, who had long resented Mexica dominance. A smallpox epidemic, introduced by Europeans, also devastated the defenders and killed much of their leadership before the final assault.

After roughly 80 days of siege, the starving city could hold out no longer.

The young emperor Cuauhtemoc was captured trying to flee by canoe and brought before Cortes. On the ruins of Tenochtitlan the Spanish founded Mexico City, the seat of colonial New Spain, marking a decisive turn in the European conquest of the continent.