Mexico City is the capital and largest city of Mexico, situated in a high basin in the center of the country at an elevation of over 2,200 meters above sea level. The modern city was built atop the ruins of «Tenochtitlan», the capital of the Aztec Empire, founded by the Aztecs in 1325 on an island in the middle of Lake «Texcoco», before Spanish conquistadors under Hernán Cortés destroyed it in 1521 and built their colonial capital over it.
A City Built Over a Lake
The ruins of «Templo Mayor», the Aztecs' greatest temple, still stand in the heart of the old city beside the massive «Zócalo» square, one of the largest central plazas in the world. Because it was built over a drained lakebed, the city suffers from gradual land subsidence, making it one of the most engineering-challenged major cities in the world.
- The ruins of the Aztec Templo Mayor are still visible in the city center
- The Zócalo is one of the largest central squares in the world
- The historic city center is a UNESCO World Heritage Site
- One of the most populous metropolitan areas in the Western Hemisphere
Mexico City blends the legacy of ancient civilizations with Spanish colonial architecture and the vibrant life of a modern Latin American capital, known for its venerable art museums and rich cuisine, which UNESCO has inscribed as part of humanity's intangible cultural heritage.
