Fr : version française / En: english version

Babel and Babylon

Babel and Babylon

Aztec cities

Aztec cities

Heavenly Jerusalem

Heavenly Jerusalem

The Fujian Tulou

The Fujian Tulou

Utopia

Utopia

Romorantin, capital of a kingdom...

Romorantin, capital of a kingdom...

The city of brotherly love

The city of brotherly love

Saint Petersburg, Peter's great city

Saint Petersburg, Peter's great city

Industry, socialism and utopia

Industry, socialism and utopia

Taking technology to new heights

Taking technology to new heights

Home sweet home

Home sweet home

A towering challenge...

A towering challenge...

New towns

New towns

Conjuring capitals

Conjuring capitals

Auroville: "divine anarchy"

Auroville: "divine anarchy"

Private cities

Private cities

Dubai: miracle or mirage?

Dubai: miracle or mirage?

All eyes on the horizon

All eyes on the horizon

Aztec cities

After its dawn in Mesopotamia, the science of urban planning was taken well beyond European borders. Modern-day Mexico was home to some real metropolises.

From Teotihuacan, founded in the 5th century BC, to Tenochtitlan, founded in the 14th century on the basis of an ancient prophesy, these seats of government and religious authority held up to 200,000 people, demonstrating impressive levels of organization. Cortés' conquistadors were stunned to discover aqueducts, public lavatories and baths in Tenochtitlan, which was home to twice as many people as Paris—at the time the largest city in Europe—and offered many more comforts!

Map of Tenochtitlan

"Cortés' 1524 Map of Tenochtitlan" in Praeclara Ferdinadi Cortesii de Noua maris Oceani Hyspania narratio sacratissimo, ac inuictissimo Carolo Romanoru[m] Imperatori semper Augusto, Hyspaniaru[m] &c. Regi anno Domini M.D.XX. transmissa.

Hernán Cortés

© Nuremberg, Germany: Friedrich Peypus, 1524

Tenochtitlan

Legend has it that a nomadic people known as the Mexicas made their home in this marshy region after seeing a prophetic vision in the form of an eagle devouring a snake while perched on a cactus, which they took as a sign to settle and found a city... A more probable reason for their move, however, is that they were rejected by neighboring tribes. The city established in 1325 quickly grew, with rafts to provide more workable land, dams, aqueducts and broad avenues. It is thought that when the Spanish colonists discovered Tenochtitlan, it had a population of nearly one million people! A real system of government was in place, with the city divided into districts and an urban-planning department approving the construction of houses, all of which had a garden and steam bath. 1,000 public-service employees were given the task of cleaning the city and gathering excrement, which was used as fertilizer. The market attracted tens of thousands of traders.

Much like the legend of how the city was founded, its decline and destruction were also linked to an omen: when Hernán Cortés and his troops arrived at the city gates, they were thought to be "Teules", demi-gods announcing the return of the deity Quetzalcoatl.