Malinalco

Malinalco lies in a warm valley south of the central Mexican highlands. Above the town, the Mexica carved a remarkable sanctuary directly into the rock of a hill. The Cuauhcalli, or House of Eagles, contains sculpted eagles and a jaguar and served as a setting for ceremonies associated with the warrior orders. Its position commands the valley below.

The temple was begun under Ahuízotl in 1501 and continued under Moctezuma Xocoyotzin. During the siege of Tenochtitlan in 1521, Hernán Cortés sent Andrés de Tapia with Spanish and Indigenous forces to take Malinalco and its Mexica garrison. The surviving inhabitants were placed under tribute. Augustinian missionaries later established a convent in the town, where painted walls joined a new Christian foundation to the older landscape of Malinalco.