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Updated on 02/25/2024

The Legend of
Popocatepetl and Iztaccihuatl

Popocatepetl and Iztaccihuatl are the Mexican volcanic mountains behind the "Winged Victory" Angel on all Mexican Silver and Gold Libertads.

1oz. Silver Libertad

The satellite photo above gives you another glimpse of the two volcanoes. (click images to enlarge)

Popocatepetl is an active volcano and is the second-highest volcano in Mexico.

Iztaccihuatl has been inactive for thousands of years and is the third-highest volcano in Mexico.

Popocatepetl and Iztaccihuatl

There are many versions of the legend of the two Aztec lovers; the most common goes as follows.

In Aztec mythology, the volcanoes were once an Aztec Princess (Iztaccihuatl) and a Great Warrior (Popocatepetl) who fell deeply in love with one another.

When Popocatepetl first met the beautiful princess Iztaccihuatl, the two immediately fell in love.

Overwhelmed with love for one another, the two knew they were meant for each other and could not live without being in each other's arms.

So, Popocatepetl went to Iztaccihuatl's father, a mighty Aztec chief, and told him that he would do whatever it would take to have Iztaccihuatl's hand in marriage.

Iztaccihuatl's father was skeptical of Popocatepetl's love for his daughter and ordered him to battle with a rival tribe.

The chief informed Popocatepetl that he could not marry his daughter unless he returned victorious.

Popocatepetl agreed, but the chief added another stipulation to his agreement; he ordered Popocatepetl to return with the rival tribe ruler's head to prove his success and victory.

Popocatepetl goes off to Battle
for his True Love

The two agreed, and the chief sent Popocatepetl to war in Oaxaca, promising him Iztaccihuatl as his bride if he returned triumphant.

A day after Popocatepetl left for battle, a rival of Popocatepetl, filled with jealousy and envy, sent a deceitful message to Iztaccihuatl's father that Popocatepetl died in battle.

While in reality, Popocatepetl had won the battle and was returning with the rival tribe leader's head.

When Princess Iztaccihuatl heard the false news, she fell ill due to her overwhelming sadness and grief and died of a broken heart over the loss of her true love.

When Popocatepetl returned victorious from his battle, he heard the news of his beloved’s death; the heartbreak he felt was unbearable.

The brave warrior gently picked up Iztaccihuatl's lifeless body into his arms and carried her far out into the countryside.

Popocatepetl laid Iztaccihuatl's body down on a funeral table overflowing with flowers and kissed Iztaccihuatl's soft, cold lips.

He then grabbed a smoking torch, knelt beside her, and stayed with her to watch over her in eternal sleep.

The Warrior Popocatepetl mourning his true love, Princess Iztaccihuatl

The gods, touched by the lover’s plight, turn the two lovers into mountains, uniting them forever.

They remain there to this day, with Popocatepetl (the smoking mountain) residing over his princess Iztaccihuatl (the sleeping woman) while she lay in eternal sleep.

On occasion, Popocatepetl will spew ash, reminding those watching that he is always in attendance and will always protect his true love, Iztaccihuatl.

Live-Cam of Popocatepetl (the smoking mountain) the active volcano.

The Story Behind the Mexican Coat of Arms

In the early 1300s, an Aztec tribe also known as the Mexica tribe, who had no homeland, wandered around the northern areas of the country, known as Mesoamerica, in search of a place to build their Empire.

As the legend goes, in 1323, the tribe's leader received a vision in a dream that they were to settle at the place where they saw an eagle with a snake in its beak, while perched at the top of a prickly pear cactus.

Two years later, the dream was fulfilled on a swampy island, in Lake Texcoco.

Scouts for the tribe found the eagle, snake, and cactus in the same fashion that the leader described to them, in his vision.

This is where the tribe settled and built the city of Tenochtitlan, (tuh·nowch·teet·laan) which became the center of the Aztec Empire.

Today, Tenochtitlan is Mexico City.

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Click Tenochtitlan Links to see a Portrait of Tenochtitlan in a 3-D reconstruction of the capital of the Aztec Empire and more.

Mexican
Gold Libertads

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