Cuitláhuac station

Neighbouring stations

• 3Line 3Coltongo ← Cuitláhuac → Héroe de Nacozari

The story behind the icon

Cuitláhuac, son of Axayácatl, lord of Iztapalapa and defender of Tenochtitlan, was the penultimate Mexica tlatoani, succeeding his brother Moctezuma Xocoyotzin. His name means "he who has been entrusted" or "with the care of someone". The name was a derivation of Cultlahuanctzin or Cuauhtlahuac. Shortly after entering Tenochtitlan, Hernán Cortés took prisoner Moctezuma and several of the great Mexica lords, Cuitláhuac among them. When Cortés returned after defeating Pánfilo de Narváez at Zempoala, he found that Tenochtitlan had risen up on account of the massacre carried out in the Templo Mayor on Pedro de Alvarado's orders. Cortés demanded that Moctezuma restore the market and return the people to calm, and at Moctezuma's request he freed Cuitláhuac so that he might set things in order; but once at liberty, Cuitláhuac roused the Mexica to revolt and was the chief strategist of the fighting that brought victory over the Spanish on 30 June 1520, in the episode history knows as La Noche Triste.

When Tenochtitlan was free of the conquistadors and Moctezuma was dead, there was a brief period of disorder caused by the war which did not allow a successor to be chosen quickly; it was on 7 September 1520 that Cuitláhuac was proclaimed the new Tlatoani. He was entrusted with the difficult task of leading the resistance. He immediately reorganised the army, leaving it ready to repel the invaders who had withdrawn to Tlaxcala, and likewise ordered the city fortified with ditches and trenches. He never had nor allowed any accommodation with the Spanish, and worked tirelessly to enlist troops, seek alliances with certain peoples and try to destroy the invaders.

He sought to counter Hernán Cortés's response and to form a powerful confederation of cities, but the mistrust and resentment bred by long years of Aztec domination caused all his efforts to fail. Besieged in Tenochtitlan by Cortés and his allies, he died in December 1520 of smallpox, a disease unknown in America and brought by the Spanish. He was succeeded by his nephew Cuauhtémoc.

What's near Cuitláhuac

• Terminal Central de Autobuses del Norte