what was the name of the tolteca capitol?

Answer 1

Fray Bernardino de Sahagún wrote several chapters about Tula, the city near Xicuco hill, which had received the name Tula Xicocotitlan.

“The house or oratory of this Quetzalcóatl was near a big river that passes by the town of Tulla and was called Chalchihuapan. There are many houses built underground where the Toltecs buried many things; and it is not only in the towns of Tullan and Xicocotitlan where they left their things and built old buildings…”

A walk along these ruins discovered after many years, gives us an idea of what the Toltec’s capital was like.

THE SACRED SPACE

Tula began in the area of Tula Chico, where Coyotlatelco-type objects from AD 700-900 have been found. It is here where we will learn about the Subsequent Occupation (AD 900-1165), which centered around a great plaza surrounded by many buildings; Building A – as it is known to archeologists – is east of the plaza and is considered the most important of these buildings. The building’s façade faces west and has a 17° deviation to the northwest. This monument has the same orientation as other buildings that were also considered the center of the universe by the societies that built them; some of these include The Sun Pyramid or the Temple of Quetzalcóatl in Teotihuacan, and the Templo Mayor (Main Temple) in Tenochtitlán.

The next construction that catches our attention is Building B or Building of the Atlantes, which, together with the Burned Palace, is on the northern side of the plaza. Building B was built for the god Tlahuizcalpantecuhtli; its main façade faces south and several of its parts were covered with tombstones decorated with images of felines and coyotes. Bird figures (perhaps eagles or zopilotes - turkey buzzards) alternate with images of the god of this temple, whose face is coming out of the mouth of a feline with large claws. The stairway leads to the upper part of the temple where we see the Atlantes – enormous statues of warriors wearing breastplates shaped like butterflies; one of their hands holds an átlatl or dart-thrower, while the other holds a curve-like object. These Atlantes were used as columns to support the temple’s roof and were hidden from the people’s view just like the serpent-shaped columns at the entrance. The Atlantes resemble the statues in the Temple of the Warriors in Chichen Itzá, a city that is very similar to Tula.

Another important part is the so-called Coatepantli or wall of snakes, which has stone reliefs of snakes and semi-devoured persons in its upper part. The top of the wall has parapets shaped like snails which were thought to have been the limit or guardian of the building it surrounded.

This building stands on top of an enormous platform with pillars. East of it we see a section that has three rooms with columns and pillars known as the Burned Palace. Each of these rooms is surrounded by sidewalks which have figures of warriors sculpted in stone. There is a patio in the middle of each room that lets light come in. Experts are not sure what these rooms were used for, but it is possible that they were used for rituals or for administrative purposes.

Answer 2

The Toltecs had two major kingdoms, one called Tula in Central Mexico and one in Chichen Itza, in the Mayan heartland of the Yucatan Peninsula.

Answer 3

Some say "Tula, Hidalgo". But it seems the people we call Toltecs did not call themselves Toltecs and the matter is disputed by historians.