Mexico City’s Historic Centre, Mexico City, Mexico

As one of the largest cities in the world, Mexico City is surprisingly easy to navigate and a pleasure to visit. It’s often feared as being a dangerous city, and parts of it probably are, but its historical centre is safe, and perfect for history loving tourists. Mexico City’s historic downtown lets you see both sides of its past with colonial churches standing beside Mexica ruins.

Mexico City (Cuidad de México) is often abbreviated to CDMX. The city with a population of over 22 million is located in Valley of Mexico; a highlands plateau at 2,200 m/7,200 ft elevation. The valley originally had 5 large, interconnected lakes that attracted its first indigenous settlers as early as 12,000 BCE. By the 1300s AD, the Mexica people arrived. They and other indigenous people in Mexico and parts of Central America share the Nahautl language and are often incorrectly called Aztecs.

The Mexicas were nomadic people believed to be roaming the lands for generations looking for a place to settle. In 1325, legend says that they spotted a serpent and eagle fighting on a cactus in the middle of Lake Texcoco, one of the 5 lakes. They took this as a sign to establish their community on that island and called it Tenochtitlan. They built floating gardens, called chinampas, as wells as dams and canals to control the lakes’ water levels. We visited one of these lakes for a tour on a traditional boat. (See our post A Boat Tour In Xochimilco). ...... (follow the instructions below for accessing the rest of this article).