Hence, the tree became known as the Arbol de la Noche Triste.
The ahuehuete and behind it, the hermitage of San Esteban Popotla.
However, at the last moment, Velazquez revoked Cortes’s commission.
Despite this, Cortes decided to proceed with the expedition.
In November, the Spanish force entered the city and was received by its ruler, Moctezuma II.
Initially, the conquistadors were treated well by the Aztecs while they stayed in the city.
This action incited outrage in Tenochtitlan.
However, the enraged Aztecs struck down Moctezuma with a hail of rocks.
Cortes and La Malinche meet Moctezuma in Tenochtitlan, November 8, 1519.
By the end of June 1520, the situation had deteriorated drastically.
The Spaniards fought their way across the causeway in the rain.
An undated photograph of the Arbol de la Noche Victoriosa.
Cortes himself had been injured in the fighting.
All the artillery had been lost, as had most of the horses.
Seeing the wounded survivors straggle into the village, Cortes is said to have broken down and wept.
This event came to be known as La Noche Triste (The Night of Sorrows).
The sources do not agree on the total number of casualties suffered by the expedition.
Cortes claimed that 154 Spaniards were lost along with over 2,000 native allies.
However, historians estimate that around 450 Spaniards and approximately 4,000 allies were killed.
There is no historical evidence that Cortes wept under a cypress tree.
Contemporary texts indicate Hernan Cortes’s sadness over the event but do not mention any tree or specific place.
The ahuehuete is no longer alive.
The tree has endured significant deterioration over the centuries, with most of its original structure no longer standing.
However, the site where the tree once stood remains a historical landmark in Mexico City.
