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With the help of several thousand Indian, Cortés and his Spanish force besieged Tenochtitlán, cutting off the city’s water and food supplies. Despite a fierce resistance, the Aztecs city fell on August 13th, 1521.

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The Aztecs were angry with their emperor and they captured him in 1520 and later, they killed him. The emperor’s brother took over.

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Their emperor, Montezuma believed that Cortés might be the bearded Aztec God who was prophesied to concur his people and bring universal peace.

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For years the Aztecs used brutal force against neighbouring tribes and city states, forcing them to pay costly tributes and hand over victims to the human sacrifices, central to the Aztec religion. Cortés turned these people’s hearted of the Aztecs to his advantage.

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The Aztecs then confronted another powerful enemy – smallpox. Brought aboard Spanish ships, the disease decimated the Aztec population, killing the new emperor and thousands of others.

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But within just 2 years, the mighty Aztec empire crumbled and Tenochtitlán laid in ruins after a brutal siege led by Spanish conquistador, Hernan Cortés. No great ancient civilization ever fell so far so fast.

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Aztec palaces were as vast and sophisticated as any of those in Europe and their temples rivalled the Egyptian pyramids.

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When Spanish ships landed in Mexico in 1519, the mighty Aztec empire was at the high of its power. From their capital in Tenochtitlán, the Aztecs controlled much of what is now Mexico in central America, ruling some 15 million people.