Waterways of Tenochtitlán
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Waterways of Tenochtitlán
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The Aztec nation developed a system of waterways which accomplished a variety of purposeful tasks for the inhabitants of Tenochtitlán. The Aztec city of Tenochtitlán, situated on an island in a saltwater lake, lacked the freshwater its inhabitants needed to sustain its substantial population. In response to this problem, Aztec engineers built an elaborate system of aqueducts and canals which connected Tenochtitlán to freshwater sources. The oldest of which derived its freshwater from springs in Chapultepec.
The Dominican Friar Diego Durán attested to the great effort and precision with which the indigenous built the canals, “With great care and expedition they made the footing for the aqueduct, forming rafts of cane and quarry stones that were secured to the bottom of the lagoon with posts and were weighted with sod, rocks and mud; and these footings were aligned leaving spaces or cuts for the circulation of the lagoon water.”
Hernán Cortés, witnessing Tenochtitlán for the first time, made a practical assessment of the city. In his second letter to King Charles V of Spain, Cortés reported on the waterways in the Valley of Mexico. Cortés states, “its streets, I speak of the principal ones, are very wide and straight; some of these, and all the inferior ones, are half land and half water, and are navigated by canoes. All the streets at intervals have opening, through which the water flows, crossing from one street to another.”
The inhabitants of Tenochtitlán were dependent upon these waterways. This system of waterways included street-like canals, which granted access to ceremonial and religious centers, administrative offices, residential or agricultural areas, and marketplaces around Tenochtitlán. The freshwater derived from the aqueducts was not only used for transportation and agriculture but also stored water which was delivered to residents on canoes. The Nahuatl canoes were sixteen feet long by two feet wide, and could safely carry two thousand pounds of weight. The system of canals in Tenochtitlán became infamous throughout the international community. Thomaso Porcacchi da Castiglione remarked that Tenochtitlán was, “another Venice, founded by blessed God… by his very holy hand.”
Castiglione, Thomaso Porcacchi da. L’isole piu famose del mondo, descritte da Thomas Porcacchi da Castiglione Arentino e intagliate da Girolamo Porro Padovano. Ai Sereniss. Principe et Signore. Venice: Simon Gallignani, 1572.
Coe, Michael D. "The Chinampas of Mexico” Scientific American 211, no. 1 (1964): 90-99.
Cortés, Hernán, and Francis Augustus MacNutt. Letters of Cortés: Five Letters of Relation to the Emperor Charles V. New York: Putnam, 1908.
Chan, Román Piña. "Water in the Valley of Mexico in Prehispanic Times” Artes De México, no. 136. Ciudad de México: Margarita de Orellana, 1970: 10-14.
Doolittle, William E. "Indigenous Development of Mesoamerican Irrigation." Geographical Review 85, no. 3. American Geographical Society, 1995. 301-23.
Durán, Fr. Diego. Durán Codex. 1570
The History of the Conquest of Mexico by the Spaniards