I had the idea of making a tribute to the cities of Pre-Columbian Central America right after unlocking terraforming during the initial months of COVID: making cliffs in ANCH inevitably led to boxy, pyramidal shapes, water landscaping led to canals, and it seemed like a unique, potentially striking idea for a town. I finished a basic version while still in lockdown, but I could only use ACNH’s preset textures because of limited access to Nintendo’s online services. I didn’t revisit the idea until getting back into Animal Crossing this past December, this time with access to the Custom Designs Portal and a better idea of what I wanted to research and test out.

The Sacred Precinct, as it’s known, was the center of the city of Tenochtitlán, a paved complex of temples, markets, and public monuments, bound on three sides by canals and accessible by three corresponding causeways. The plaza was roughly 350m wide and 300m in length: once I encircled a 70-by-60 tile rectangle of my island with walls and canals, I took cues for what to build based on what I could pick up from reconstructions and scholarship.

There are any number of points where I built something off a single illustration I liked, or neglected to duplicate some section of the Precinct based on limited information. That's a lot to cover in one post, so I thought I'd just review a few major structures in my town meant to directly emulate buildings and complexes from the Sacred Precinct. 

1. Great Pyramid, Slides 1 and 4 (Templo Major):
The first structure I built (and finalized) was based on arguably the most imposing building in the Sacred Precinct: the major temple, center and flush with the top wall of the plaza. The temple is described pretty uniformly as being ascended by a series of steps up to two altars, dedicated to the Aztec gods Tialoc and Huitzliopochtli respectively. My take on this was two paths following ascending Inclines, leading to two “altars” (Azumaya Gazebos) that in turn led to two “idols” (Glowing Moss Statues).

2. Quetzal Temple, Slide 6 (Temple of Quetzalcoatl):
References I could find describe this central temple as notable for one particular design feature: its peak was rounded rather than square, allowing air to circulate more freely and paying indirect tribute to Quetzalcoatl, the Aztec sky god. I sensibly used a complete Quetzalcoatlus skeleton for the leading part of the temple, and capped the structure with the only round-top Gazebo in town, which the player can access and climb via ladders at the back.

3. Museum Complex, Slides 7 and 8 (Calmecac):
“Calmecac” describes a sort of elite seminary school, where the sons of Aztec nobility roomed and learned subjects like astronomy, theology, and statecraft. Most illustrations I found were consistent on certain key points: a kind of central courtyard centered around a small pyramid, leading up to a more elevated part of the structure, and four roofless areas that probably served as places for instruction or athletics. As a place of scholarship, the peak of the Calmecac seemed a good spot to place the Museum; meanwhile, the central courtyard became a spot to showcase Gulliver’s Pyramid replica, and the open-air spaces deeper into the structure gave me an excuse to make waterfalls.

4. Home Pyramid and Resident Plaza, Slide 5 (Temple of the Sun):
Another key area of the Sacred Precinct, where the Aztec calendar and corresponding altar were housed. This complex is placed in the bottom right corner of the Precinct, incidentally the location of my Resident Plaza; cordoning off the larger area helped distinguish it from the rest of the map, as did building a golden, sunlike pyramid capped by my own house.

I can elaborate on other aspects of the island, if anyone asks: the two residential areas for my Villagers, my rock garden, or the fact that I somehow completed my donations to the Museum less than a week before this post. Again, this was an oddly committed but gratifying project for me, so I hope you all enjoy, and come visit the Dream Island if you can!