When Cortez and his small band of Spanish explorers entered the city of Tenochtitlan in 1519, they were entering the capital of the Aztec empire. Dominating this city of 150,000 inhabitants was the huge main pyramid—the Templo Mayor. Cortez and the Aztec emperor, Montezuma, met at the base of the pyramid, a confrontation of two alien cultures. Over 400 years later, the President of Mexico appointed Eduardo Matos Moctezuma to direct the excavations and restoration of the great pyramid of his ancestors.

Cosponsored by: Office of the Chancellor; Office of the Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs; School of Architecture; School of Art and Design; Department of Anthropology; Department of History; Department of Landscape Architecture; Department of Spanish, Italian and Portuguese; Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies; Humanities Council; La Casa Cultural Latina; Program for the Study of Religion; World Heritage Museum; Archaeological Institute of America; The Center for Advanced Study; George A. Miller Endowment; George A. Miller Committee