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'Tlatelolco' is an area in Mexico City, centered on the Plaza de las Tres Culturas, a square surrounded on three sides by an excavated Aztec pyramid, the 17th century church Templo de Santiago, and the modern office complex of the Mexican foreign ministry.
Originally it was an independent Aztec city, but it was absorbed by Tenochtitlán. During the Aztec rule, it was the market district of the Aztec capital Tenochtitlán, probably one of the largest in the Americas.
According to Conquistador Bernal Díaz del Castillo, it was larger than the city of Sevilla and larger than any market any of the Spaniards had seen, even those of Venice and Constantinople, with about 20,000 to 40,000 people trading.
When the conquistadors led by Hernán Cortés lay siege to Tenochtitlán, they conquered and razed it district by district. The surrounding Aztec cities surrendered to Cortés, but the Tlatelolcas remained with the Aztec (Tenochcas). The Aztecs, led by Cuauhtemoc, were finally confined to Tlaltelolco, where they made their last stand, and were defeated beside the Tlatelolcas and slaughtered by the conquistadors.
Over 40,000 Aztec men, women, and children perished at Tlatelolco on August 13, 1521.
The Nonoalco-Tlatelolco housing project, built in the 1960s, is served by Metro Tlatelolco. It is also home to the pyramid-shaped Banobras building, which houses a 47-bell carillon. At 125 meters, this is the world's tallest carillon tower. There is also a building covered with white marble that was home of the Foreign Relations Secretariat.
In 1967, the Treaty of Tlatelolco was opened for signature, with the aim of establishing a nuclear weapons-free zone throughout Latin America and the Caribbean. Since then, all the region's countries have signed and ratified the treaty.
On October 2, 1968, ten days before the start of the 1968 Summer Olympics the plaza was the scene of the Tlatelolco massacre, in which more than 300 student protesters were killed by army and police.
On September 19, 1985, many housing buildings were destroyed or suffered damages due to an earthquake which affected Mexico City. One structure, the "Nuevo León" building, became a symbol of the Mexican people's solidarity during the disaster, represented in a small square in the spot where the building collapsed. Among others, Plácido Domingo labored there to help to rescue survivors.

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★ Tres Culturas