Hailing from the northern region, the Aztecs (aka Mexica) settled in the Valley of Mexico around 1325, marking the founding of Tenochtitlán, an island city that would become the capital of one of Mesoamerica’s largest civilizations. Legend has it that the wandering Aztecs decided to put down roots in the Valley of Mexico after happening upon an eagle perched on a cactus with a snake in its beak, which was seen as a sign from the gods that they had reached the promised land. The image is represented on the Mexican flag.

Tenochtitlán would eventually become the center of the vast Aztec Empire and the largest city in the pre-Hispanic Americas at the time. After the Spanish conquest in the 16th century, the ruins of Tenochtitlán were buried under the present-day Centro Histórico. You can see part of the Aztec’s sacred temple jutting out at Templo Mayor, while in the southern borough of Xochimilco, gondolas glide along the last vestiges of ancient canals that once stretched across the valley.

The origin of the word Mexico, meaning “place of the Mexica,” comes from the Nahuátl-speaking Aztecs. Brightly colored Aztec dancers, known as concheros, regularly reenact ceremonial rituals on the Zócalo, the city’s main square.