What is the name of the Aztec underworld?

The name of the Aztec underworld was Mictlan. In Nahuatl, Mictlan is commonly understood as the “place of the dead” or “place of death,” and it was the destination for many people who died from ordinary causes.

Mictlan was imagined as a realm beneath the earthly world, ruled by Mictlantecuhtli, the Lord of the Underworld, and his wife Mictecacihuatl, the Lady of the Underworld. It was not simply a place of punishment in the later European sense. The dead faced a difficult passage through its regions before reaching their final resting place.

According to accounts of Aztec mythology, the journey lasted four years and involved hazards such as crashing mountains, flesh-stripping winds, and dangerous waters. The dog-associated deity Xolotl acted as a guide or psychopomp for the dead.

Mictlan was not the only afterlife destination. Warriors and people who died in sacrifice were linked with the sun, while those who died by drowning, lightning, or certain water-related causes were believed to reach Tlalocan, the paradise of the rain god Tlaloc.