This picture shows the eagle on the cactus that marked the location of Tenochtitlan.
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Map of Mexico
Map of Mexico City (Central Plaza)
Thousands of years ago, the Aztecs wandered through the Americas in search of a place to call their own. Finally they reached the place that their God, Huitzilopochtli, had promised them. He had come to them in a dream telling them to stop at the place where they saw an eagle devouring its prey while perched on a cactus which grew from a rock. The Aztecs found that place and from there they built a mighty empire and the Templo Mayor to honor the God that had led them to a new home. The place that the Aztecs came to is now Mexico City, Mexico. The Great Temple is located just off the main plaza. In ancient times it was the center of the city Tenochtitlan and faced West.