Voices ofMexico !October • December. 1995 61 Mexico City: growth and development Francisco Pérez de Salazar V.* y the time ofthe fifth occurrence which motivated islands the Jeader of the Mexicas millennium B.C. the Valley settlement on the small islands within (Aztecs) found an eagle perched on a B of Mexico had become an the Valley ofMexico's system of cactus plant devouring a serpent, and area of stable settlements lakes. This enormous natural basin that is whát led to the foundation of where farmers cultivated coro, chiles, contained the salt water ofTexcoco this great city. squash, avocados and beans. Jake as well as the fresh waters of The island gradually grew in size Development continued slowly, under Xochimilco and Chalco lakes. dueto the deliberate drying out of these conditions, until the year 1,000 According to legend, on one of the severa! small adjoining surfaces. This B.C.; the altiplano (highlands) began to feel the influence ofthe Olmec "mother culture," originating along the coas! of the Gulfof Mexico. The first influences arase in what is now Tlatilco, where the oldest archeological remnants are to be found. At the same time, Cuicuilco flourished to the southeast of the Valley ofMexico. Teotihuacan was founded jusi a few miles from the Anáhuac Valley, becoming the first great city in ali of Mesoamerica -we understand Mesoamerica to be the area from the northern center of Mexico, in the state of Zacatecas, to Honduras and Nicaragua in Central America. The great Tenochtitlan-today Mexico City- served as headquarters for the greatest kingdom, consolidating itself in the J 5th century A.D. throughout the vast territories ofthe altiplano. The location of the great capital was due to a mythical-religious • Doctorate in architecture and master's Map published by Pierre Bertius, ca. 1620, derivedJrom the map attrib-uted to degree in monwnent rcstcration. Hemán Cortés. 62 Voices o/Mexico /October • December, 1995 was the result of an invention called chinampas -plots built on a pile of wood filled with earth. This technique arose in the Valley ofMexico and can still be seen in Xochimilco and Chalco. The huge, open religious capital had no evident defenses, although its island location allowed for visual oversight of ali access points. One must also take into account the support provided by the city's allies and tributaries a long the banks of the lake. Tenochtitlan was founded in 1325. Developing together with the capital was Tlatelolco, founded around the year 1337 and home to the huge provisions market as well as great schools for warriors and nobles. In addition, the lakeside cities of Azcapotzalco, Tlacopan, Xochimilco, Chalco and Texcoco achieved great splendor. The first four of these settlements are now included within the metropolitan area ofMexico City. This pro vides us with an idea of how big Lake Texcoco was in the l 6th century. Island towns such as Tláhuac, Mixquiq and Xochimilco followed the same pattem as Tenochtitlan. They Map sent to Charles V by Hernán Cortés. grew together with the parceling out of chinampas (averaging 1640 square interconnections for the social life of Letters). The second, clearly made feet each), which provided the the metropolis. by the Indians themselves, is framework for the establishment of At the time of the Conquest, preserved at the University of "lndian patios" -family groups according to the scholar González Upsala, Sweden. which made it possible to carry out Aparicio, the city had a basically After the Conquest, Alonso complernentary activities such as rectangular shape and measured García Bravo had the task of farrning the plots and orchards as approximately two miles wide, from reconstructing the city. His design was raising domestic animals. east to west, and two anda half miles based on the layout of the Aztec The areas set aside for religious long. Thus, the total area covered was capital. Thus, the old access roads activities and for housing the upper around 5 square miles. were preserved: Tenayuca (today the classes (both the clergy and the After the arrival of Hernán Vallejo causeway), Tlacopan military) were clearly delimited from Cortés, many maps were made (presently the Mexico-Tacuba road), the areas for cornrnoners, who during the era of the Conques t. The lztapalapa (today Tlalpan avenue), and congregated in neighborhoods called most importan! are "Cortés' Map" Tepeyac (now called Misterios road). calpulis. The calpulís were linked by and the "Map of Santa Cruz." The The four great lndian means of a system of canals and first was published around 1524, neighborhoods were also preserved, irrigation channels navigated by together with the Conquistador's and now bear both their Christianized canoe. This provided the Cartas de relación (Narrative names from the Colonial period, Yoices ofMexico /October • December, 1995 63 together with their old Nahuatl or Crown, the Spaniards were given were already thirty of these cities. Mexica narnes: Santa María concessions of'Indians, who were forced Other centers were built in Jndian Tlaquechiucan (today Santa Maria la to pay the conquistadors tribute in labor towns, such as Tlaxcala, Cholula, Redonda); San Juan Moyotla in the as well as in kind. lndians played a key Huejotzingo and Texcoco. southwest; San Sebastián Atzacoalco role in the construction ofthe great By the l 6th century the urban in the northeast and Santiago Teopan Spanish cities, built by the Indians' structure of the island had been in the southeast. When this design was indefatigable hands as they worked as divided into three parts: in the north begun, Tlatelolco, the equivalen! of a bricklayers, stonemasons and carpenters, was the Jndian community of Santiago fifth neighborhood, already formed as well as in the transportation of Tlatelolco, to the south was another part ofthe city. construction materials. Indian community, San Juan According to Fray Bernardino de The most important representatives Tenochtitlan, while the central area Sahagún the Mexica ceremonial center of the Crown were the viceroy and the was occupied by the Spaniards. This had 78 importan! buildings. lt was audiencias (High Court), Below these central urban area is clearly outlined here that the most importan! public were the cabildos (councils), which in by the streets of San Juan de Letrán edifices were built during the Colonial general terms ---depending on the (now Lázaro Cardenas) to the west, period and where a Renaissance plaza importance of the given population Santísima to the east, Colombia on the was constructed, surrounded by area- were made up of govemment northem side and Izazaga to the south. buildings on its four sides. aldermen and "ordinary mayors" In accordance with the "state of The most importan! ruins from charged with administeringjustice. Ali alert" in effect during the first years Tenochtitlan 's ceremonial center are these officials were subordinate to the after the Conquest, Hernán Cortés found in the plaza which was ChiefMayor. permitted the conquistadors to build discovered east of the Cathedral and Large commercial and their homes as if they were Metropolitan Sanctuary and undemeath administrative centers developed in fortresses, with walls and towers both buildings, causing serious conjunction with the foundation of featuring many small windows. structural problems in the Cathedral. Mexico City, such as Oaxaca, Puebla, Cortés installed four towers in his For their participation in the Guadalajara, Atlixco and Valladolid home, while his great captain conquest of land and subjects for the (now Michoacán). Around 1574 there Sandoval built but two, doubtless so as to denote that he had less status /_, ,, , than his superior. In 1524 the Hospital of Jesus was founded, and it is there that the remains of Hernán ••• 1. Cortés are to be found today . Four large religious convents -San Francisco, Santo Domingo, La Merced and San Agustín- already occupied an important place in the city's layout. The first three were modifications of the same rectangular design, occupying severa) blocks. Inside the Indian neighborhoods the cihuacalli was preserved -a Roman-style "wornen's house." The aqueducts ofT!axpan were preserved and reconstructed, using water from Santa Fe, Cuajimalpa and Chapultepec. Convents, while originally Manuel Toussaint's irüerpretatíon. of the map drawn by Juan Gómez de Transmonte prohibited, were eventually built around 1628. -mainly during the l 7th century=- - 64 Voices ofMexico /October • December, 1995 and were small cities in themselves. Lithographed centuries later in population growth caused land to be Buildings such as hospitals, the Florence, it gives usa picture of the distributed in ever smaller plots. This Viceregal Palace, the Cabildo halls development ofthe city, which had did not hinder the rich from building and the University made up the rest of spread to the east and west. The most rnajestic homes as well as buildings the city's great edifices. importan! buildings represented in far rent, leading to construction along The geological structure ofthe this perspective are: 18 religious such streets and plazas as Mayor, valley's basin, constan! rain and the convents, 14 other religious Volador, Tlatelolco, Regina, Santo lack of control over accumulated water buildings, 8 hospitals, 4 colleges and Domingo, San Juan and Concepción. brought about severa! floods, despite parish churches, the Cathedral (still By the 18th century there were 78 the large number of containment works under construction), the Royal Palace such areas. based on stone dams built.during the and the Cabildo hall. One can also Two types ofhousing units were reign of Ahuizótl and Nezahualcóyotl. see the aqueduct which reached the characteristic ofthe 18th céntury, The A great flood, beginning in 1629 and fountain of Tlaxpana near the first, called a vecindad, was made up lasting three years, caused the cernen! Alameda, bringing spring water from of two or three patios joined in linear to soften in most buildings, leaving Chapultepec.