The Aztecs told Spanish missionaries of a great city called Tollan, where the mighty Toltecs once lived. They were referring to Tollan Tula.

The relatively poor archaeological site of Tula does not do justice to the mighty Toltecs and their achievements. "This is the great Tollan?" the Spaniards must have thought, as did generations of archaeologists, few of whom were impressed with the remains of Tula. How could such a small and crude city be the capital of a people whose empire stretched from the Pacific Ocean to the Gulf Coast?