Precolonial Cities: Urban 2

 

    In the map above, we will be looking at the precolonial cities and how they compare to Inca's architecture versus Spaniard architecture. 

    Many of the architecture still remains or remnants were left behind from the precolonial cities. Today, we will be focusing on Zocalo, Mexico, Templo Mayor, Mexico, Tenochtitlan, Teotihuacan, and Cusco, Peru. When the Spaniards arrived to Latin America, they brought disease that the Mayans were not immune to. With this, many of the residents died unfortunately, leaving the Spaniards to take over the majority of the land. By zooming in to the placemarks, you can see descriptions and photos. 

    Some of the Inca's architecture and pathways still remain to this day. You will notice this by zooming into the "Puma" path. The path represents the precolonial roadway. Puma is located in Cuzco. Animal spirits were very important to the Inca's, especially the puma. The puma is one of the top carnivores. When destroying the precolonial cities, this roadway remains in tact. 

Image 1: Screenshot from GEP of "Puma" 

    Some of the architecture still remains but with some twist by the Spaniards. The two placemarks, Cuzco Architecture and Biblioteca Municipal are great examples of this. In Biblioteca Municipal, you can see that the Spaniards used the pre colonial buildings and simply added a second level on top of the existing building. You can see the Inca stone on the first level with Spaniard building on top. Cuzco Architecture demonstrates that the SPaniards completely tore down Inca architecture and used the broken, remaining stone to build their own buildings and structure.