It is called the Aztec Kings' Lake, but that's just a
name that someone in the tourist office thought up. You can find it in
the Tlahuac district of Mexico City, but it is quite a trek from the
city centre. Actually it isn't just a lake, it's a part of the old
system of lakes and canals that encircled Mexico City until the late
nineteenth century. Various drainage schemes reduced the once massive
lakes to manageable sizes, until finally even the government realised
that the flooding in those areas would cost millions to prevent, and the
waters were allowed to return. A cynic might argue that bringing the
waters back also prevents thousands of people from moving to the Valley
of Mexico every year from other parts of the country.
Whatever
the reason, in the early 1990s what had been a swamp was restored to its
former glory, but it is still only a pale shadow of what it once was.
Older people can still remember how produce from this area was taken via
the canals to the north of the city. Those days have gone, but what has
been reopened is still a little gem and well worth the trouble that it
will take to visit it.
No comments:
Post a Comment