Ritual of the New Fire

For the ancient Aztecs, in the ancient Tenochtitlan, the world was in danger of ceasing to exist if the sun did not rise anew, every cycle of 52 years. To animate the sun, a fire was burnt in a temple on the summit of a hill, to a star (whose prehispanic name was Huizachtecatl). This was the Ritual of the New Fire, which would reanimate the sun, allowing it to rise and begin another cycle of 52 years. At duskc of the last day of the cycle, all the fires were extinguished; only the priests were left at the top of the hill, where a human sacrifice was made. This hill is now in the center of the populated region of Iztapalapa in Mexico City.