Editing Huītzilōpōchtli (section)

==The Templo Mayor==
The most important and powerful structure in Tenochtitlan is the Templo Mayor. Its importance as the sacred center is reflected in the fact that it was enlarged frontally eleven times during the two hundred years of its existence.<ref name="Carrasco 1982 167">{{cite book|last=Carrasco|first=David|title=Quetzalcoatl and the Irony of the Empire|year=1982|publisher=The University of Chicago Press|location=Boulder, Colorado|isbn=978-0226094878|pages=167}}</ref> The [[Templo Mayor|Great Temple]] of Tenochtitlan was dedicated to Huitzilopochtli and [[Tlaloc]], the rain god. 16th century [[Dominican Order|Dominican]] friar [[Diego Durán]] wrote, "These two gods were always meant to be together, since they were considered companions of equal power."<ref>Diego Durán, ''Book of Gods and Rites''</ref> The Templo Mayor consisted of a pyramidal platform, on top of which were twin temples, one painted with blue stripes and the other painted red. The red shrine, on the south side, was dedicated to Huitzilopochtli, while the blue shrine to the north was dedicated to Tlaloc.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Cartwright|first1=Mark|title=Huitzilopochtli|url=https://www.worldhistory.org/Huitzilopochtli/|website=[[World History Encyclopedia]]|access-date=14 May 2018}}</ref> That these two deities were on opposite sides of the Great Temple is very representative of the Aztec dichotomy that the deities represent. Tlaloc, as the rain god, represented fertility and growth, while Huitzilopochtli, as the sun god, represented war and sacrifice.<ref>{{cite book|last=Coe|first=Michael D.|title=Mexico: From the Olmecs to the Aztecs|year=2008|publisher=Thames & Hudson|location=London|pages=221}}</ref>