When the Spaniard Hernán Cortés arrived on the coast of Mexico in 1519 at the site of present-day [[Veracruz]], he quickly heard of a great city ruled by an emperor named [[Moctezuma]]. Cortés was told that this city was tremendously wealthy—reportedly filled with gold—and received tribute from all the surrounding tribes. The riches and complexity Cortés found when he arrived at that city, known as Tenochtitlán, were far beyond anything he or his men had ever seen. Several wrote descriptions of the public places of the island city, Tenochtitlán, admiring both its spotless cleanliness and the size of its markets, said to be bigger than those of any European capital. The city’s population when the Spanish first arrived was over 200,000; larger than Madrid, Rome, or London. --- Next: [[1.9 Tenochtitlán]] Back: [[1.7 The Maya]]