The Templo Mayor, or Great Temple, is considered by the Mexican archaeologist Eduardo Matos Moctezuma, who directed its excavation, to have been the symbolic and physical centre of the Aztec world. As the largest in a whole group of buildings, known as the sacred precinct, the Great Temple dominated the city of Mexico-Tenochtitlan and its population of some 250,000 people. The temple was rediscovered in 1978 when workers of the Electric Light Company stumbled across an enormous stone sculpture of the moon goddess Coyolxauhqui. Previously the building was only known through images produced by native Mexican tlacuilo (scribes) in codices such as the Codex Durán, and the Codex Ixtlilxochitl, and descriptions by Spanish conquerors such as Bernal Díaz del Castillo, a soldier in the forces of Hernán Cortés. The subsequent excavation has revealed the remains of the Great Temple, now open to the public, and underlines the accuracy of these historical sources.

The Great Temple was constructed over a long period of time and in numerous phases. The original structure is thought to date from 1325 the year that the Aztecs recorded their arrival at Mexico-Tenochtitlan. (Unfortunately, the high level of the water table in Mexico City prevents the excavation of this particular section.) There are seven distinct phases of construction in total. The temple was not rebuilt during each phase but covered by a new layer, which enveloped the previous construction and gradually increased the size of the temple. The temple was topped by two shrines; one dedicated to Huitzilopotchli, the supreme god of the Aztecs, the other to Tlaloc, god of rain. The temple had a large central staircase linking the shrines to ground level.

More than one hundred groups of offerings have been found at the Great Temple. Surprisingly the majority of the 6,000 excavated objects are not Aztec but come from distinct regions in Mexico, especially from the south. These offerings demonstrate the importance of the temple as a ritual and political centre to which all tribute was brought. Excavations at the Great Temple have enabled archaeologists to understand better the Aztecs and to appreciate the quality and diversity of the artistry with which the Great Temple was built and adorned. Two examples, the extraordinary lifesize terracotta figures of an Eagle Warrior and Mictlantecuhtli, god of death, demonstrate this very clearly.

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