Fall of the Aztec and Maya Empires - Travel Video.

Questar Video. When Emperor Montezuma met Cortez he gave the conquistador the entire Aztec Empire. It was the beginning of the end. The brilliant and powerful cultures of Mesoamerica (Olmecs, Zapotecs, Toltecs, Aztecs and Maya) believed that one day the God-man Quetzalcoatl would return from the east to claim his rightful throne. This idea was supported by a complex calendar and close observations of the heavens. The coincidental arrival of the Spaniard Hernando Cortez at the prescribed time fulfilled the fatal doctrine of the great Empire cities. Even before the Spaniards arrived in the 1520s, strife between the rival city states had already weakened their lands. Many of the great Maya cities were deserted and left empty. This video story not only traces the Spanish conquest of the Aztecs and Maya, but also follows the journeys, in 1839, of New York explorer John L. Stephens to these strange and wonderful cities. Using computer graphic reconstruction, animated maps, classic art, reenactment and beautiful on-location cinematography, the viewer sees Teotihuac?n, Cholula, Monte Alban, Chich?n Itz?, Tenochtitlan, Tikal, Cop?n, Uxmal, and Palenque as they might have looked 1000 years ago before defeat and decay brought about their tragic end. 65 minutes.