Overview

At midnight on 30 June 1520, Hernán Cortés and his subalterns jointly decided to abandon Tenochtitlán. Under cover of darkness and rainfall, the Spanish army, along with its indigenous allies, began to retreat towards Tlacopan (Tacuba). However, they were spotted fleeing by the Aztec sentries positioned on the heights of Teocalli, who raised the battle cry on their shell horns. The pathway over the lake towards Tlacopan was cut in various sections and too narrow to permit a quick flight. Furthermore, the burdensome supplies carried by the Iberians made passage over the muddy ground even more difficult. As a result, the Aztecs, who attack from the lake itself in thousands of small boats, were able to take a heavy toll on the invading army. When Cortés saw the price he had paid to abandon Tenochtitlán, he wept bitterly under a tree, now known as de la Noche Triste, or the Tree of the Sad Night. And if what they say is true, this is the same ahuehuete (a lar! ge, burly tree with course dark bark) whose dried trunk is preserved in a small garden in the Colonia Popotla neighborhood.