One look at the urban sprawl of present-day Mexico City and it’s hard to imagine that it all began as an island city in the center of a vast lake system. When the colonizing Spaniards arrived in the 16th century, they were stunned to find the Aztec capital of Tenochitlán, one of the world largest cities at the time.

Colonial times

But it didn’t take long for the conquistadors to raze Tenochtitlán and subsequently build a colonial city on top of the Aztec ruins. During the colonial era, which brought a transformative period of massive urbanization, the Spaniards drained the lake bed and canals that crisscrossed the expansive Valley of Mexico, forever changing the landscape of Mexico City.

Independence & today

Mexico won its independence from Spain in 1810 and Mexico City, the longtime political, financial and cultural capital, has seen non-stop growth ever since then.

Today, with an estimated metropolitan area population of some 21 million, it’s one of the largest urban centers on the planet. Yet the canals of Xochimilco, in southern Mexico City, still serve as reminders of a bygone era when waterways once connected small lakeside villages to the once great Aztec island cities of Tenochtitlán.