Tlacopan

Tlacopan, also known as Tlacopán in Nahuatl and Tacuba in Spanish, was a pre-Columbian city-state in the Valley of Mexico located on the western shore of Lake Texcoco, near the area of present-day Tacuba in western Mexico City. It formed part of the regional network of Nahua towns that surrounded Tenochtitlan and Texcoco.

Tlacopan is best known for its role in the Aztec Triple Alliance, formed in 1428 with Tenochtitlan and Texcoco. The alliance united these city-states to dominate central Mexico and launched the expansion of what would become the Aztec Empire. Although Tlacopan was smaller and less powerful than Tenochtitlan or Texcoco, it contributed troops and tribute and helped secure western Lake Texcoco and the surrounding region for the alliance.

Politically, Tlacopan retained its own rulers and local governance under the broader framework of Aztec suzerainty. Its leaders acknowledged the authority of the alliance, while the city benefited from centralized administration, military campaigns, and tribute flows directed by the allied central power.

Following the Spanish conquest, Tlacopan was incorporated into New Spain, and its site was gradually absorbed into the growing colonial urban landscape of Mexico City. In modern times, the area corresponds to parts of western Mexico City, including the historic district of Tacuba, where archaeological sites and colonial-era landmarks reflect its pre-Columbian past.

The religious life of Tlacopan mirrored the broader Nahua traditional practices shared across allied polities in the region. While specific deities and cult centers of Tlacopan are less comprehensively documented, the city participated in the widely venerated Aztec pantheon and calendar traditions that characterized the Triple Alliance period.