Tenochtitlan, a city on a lake

A capital within a lake

Why was a lake city not isolated? Causeways linked Tenochtitlan to land and waterways to producing areas. Central temples expressed power and faith, sustained by the work supplying the city.

Templo Mayor honored Tlaloc and Huitzilopochtli amid other ritual structures. Lake management and the sacred-political center served different but connected urban functions.

Chinampas, boats and canals

Chinampas were constructed plots in shallow water, not floating islands. Outlying production areas such as those surviving at Xochimilco supplied food by boat, while causeways carried land traffic. Repeated temple floors also record responses to subsidence and flooding. Cultivation, transport and protection each required a different use of water.

The city transformed by conquest

Spanish forces and Indigenous allies took the city in 1521; a new capital rose over it. Earlier roads and channels and Indigenous craftwork influenced the later city. Rebuilt temple layers and colonial and post-independence structures trace destruction and continuity on the same ground.

Before and after

1. 1325, traditional founding date

   Traditional date of the Mexica capital’s foundation.

2. 1521

   Spanish forces and Indigenous allies conquered the city.

3. 1987

   The historic city center and Xochimilco were inscribed.

Key terms

Mexica

The people associated with Tenochtitlan.

Chinampa

A constructed cultivation plot in shallow water.

Causeway

A raised route linking land across water.

What supports the account?

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