Cempoala

Cempoala stood near the Actopan River in the warm coastal plain of Veracruz. One of the principal centres of the Totonac world, it had temples, walled precincts and channels that carried water from the river to houses and fields. Rounded river stones and lime plaster formed the walls of its buildings. By the early sixteenth century the city was subject to Mexica rule.

In 1519 its ruler Chicomácatl made an alliance with Hernán Cortés against the Mexica. Cempoalan leaders supplied knowledge of the region and support to the Spaniards as they prepared to march toward the central highlands. Their alliance was one of the first in a network of Indigenous partnerships that shaped the campaign against Tenochtitlan. The fall of Mexica power did not end colonial demands on the coast, but Cempoala’s decision became a decisive moment in the conquest.