Mexico builds replica Aztec temple to mark 500 years since Spanish conquest

Workers prepare a monumental model of the Templo Mayor pyramid to commemorate the 500th Anniversary of the Fall of Tenochtitlan, at the Zocalo Plaza in Mexico City, Mexico, August 10, 2021. REUTERS/Toya Sarno Jordan

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexico is building a towering replica of the Templo Mayor, the Aztec civilisation's most sacred site, in the downtown of Mexico City to mark 500 years since the Spanish conquest of the Aztec capital, Tenochtitlan.

The mostly white mock temple will be on show in Mexico City's bustling main square, the Zocalo, close to the ruins of the real Templo Mayor, where the Aztecs venerated two main deities with elaborate pageantry and sacrificial offerings.