Tenochtitlan

Tenochtitlan was a Nahua altepetl (Nahua is the name of the people, altepetl means it was a city-state) on an island in Lake Texcoco in the Valley of Mexico. It was founded in 1325 and in the 15th century it became the capital of the expanding Aztec Empire, until it was captured by the Spanish in 1521. The ruins of the city of Tenochtitlan are in the central part of what is now Mexico City. The name Tenochtitlan is a combination of the Nahuatl words tetl (rock) and nochtli (prickly pear) and it would mean something like 'among the prickly pears rocks'. Another altepetl on another island was Tlatelolco.


Tenochtitlan was situated on the western side of the lake and connected to the ainland with causeways leading north, south and west of the city. Where the three causeways came together the temple was found, which was dedicated to Huitzilopochtli, the sun god (but also god of war) and Tlaloc, the god of rain and agriculture. 
The causeways were interrupted by bridges that could be opened to allow canoes to pass freely or be pulled away to defend the city. The city was interlaced with a series of canals so that all parts of the city could be reached by canoes. (I imagine some sort of Venice here.) Parts of the city were built over the lake on a foundation of poles. There is a lot on interesting information about the city of Tenochtitlan here.

Where once was the temple now is the Cathedral of Mexico City and the ruins of the temple are still below it:

All this I did not know when I ordered a used sample (imp) from the perfume Tenochtitlan, which is one of the series of Wanderlust of Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab. I simply chose it because I was intrigued by the notes. I now know why prickly pear was included, which by the way is a genus of over 200 cactus species.

The complete dezcription of the scent is:

The greatest of all Aztec cities, and capital of their empire. Amber, hyssop, coriander, epazote, Mexican sage, prickly pear and Mexican tulip poppy.

I also searched for epazote, which I found to be Dysphania ambrosioides, also known as Mexican tea, Jezuit's tea, wormseed or Herba Sancta Mariae. In Dutch (probably only interesting for myself) it is welriekende ganzevoet.

And because I had never heard of a tulip poppy, I searched for that too. The Tulip Poppy is a poppy from the highlands and its Latin name is Hunnemannia fumariifolia.

Unlike I had expected with hyssop and coriander as notes, this is a light fruity kind of scent, the prickly pear I suppose although of course there is no essential oil of prickly pear. It is very nice and a scent I could console myself with once I am out of Water Dragon.