Xochimilco
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Photo: wikipedia
How could a place whose name means “place where flowers grow” be anything less than magical? This is Xochimilco, a lush oasis with an ecosystem unlike any other in the world!
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Photo: wikipedia
▌Located on the southern side of the city, Xochimilco arose when the Aztecs started to build chinampas, a unique solution to creating arable land on part of lake Texcoco. Farmers piled up soil and vegetation inside underwater fences to form floating gardens in a network of canals.
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Today, you can hop on a vividly painted trajinera, a type of gondola, and be poled through more than 100 miles of canals that were declared a World Heritage Site by the UNESCO in 1987. Especially on the weekends, families and friends pile onto these boats to relax, eat, drink, and even dance and sing to the mariachi bands that come floating by.
▟ Another of Xochimilco’s treasures is Museo Dolores Olmedo Patiño. Dolores Olmedo was a rich socialite and patron of the arts, especially of Diego Rivera. In the ‘90s, she donated her collection to create an eponymous museum in her peaceful 16th-century hacienda.
There are 137 works by Rivera, including oils, watercolors, drawings, and lithographs, along with a fine collection of memorabilia and pre-Hispanic pottery and metalwork. There are also paintings by Frida Kahlo, Mexican folk art, and even the Emperor Maximilian’s 365-piece silverware set!
Photo: Gobierno de la Ciudad de México
▌For those looking to get away from the hubbub of city life, Parque Ecológico de Xochimilco lets you explore lakes and a botanical garden by foot, bicycle, pedal boat, and trajinera, of course. The park was rehabilitated in 2019, and now encompasses a wetlands area and temperate forest zone.
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Both shelter a wide variety of species of plants and animals, and on the Chinampa Didáctica visitors can learn about the crops traditionally grown in Xochimilco, such as chili peppers, corn, tomatoes, amaranth, beans, squash, and more. The park is both a place to relax and an environmental conservation effort.
Photo: Flickr
▟ Animal lovers visiting Xochimilco are delighted by a chance to see and maybe even hold axolotls. These unusual endemic salamanders grow to about 10 inches long, and along with their tiny legs and feet, they have long fins and tails.
They retain a ruffly crown and their gills their entire lives. Many species of axolotls are only found in Xochimilco, so the organizations working to conserve them are very important.
It only follows that there are fantastical creatures here, in this vibrant, verdant gem.
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