Lake Xochimilco

Lake Xochimilco (Spanish pronunciation: [sotʃiˈmilko]; Nahuatl languages: Xōchimīlco, pronounced [ʃoːtʃiˈmiːlko] listen^ⓘ) is an ancient endorheic lake, located in the present-day Borough of Xochimilco in southern Mexico City. It is the last remaining habitat of the axolotl.

The lake is within the Valley of Mexico hydrological basin, in central Mexico.

Lake Xochimilco is part of a series of historical lakes, which included:

Lake Xochimilco was originally a part of an even larger lake, Lake Texcoco, during the last glacial period. Between 12,000 and 6,000 years ago, the climate in central Mexico warmed and the snowmelt that once fed Lake Texcoco virtually disappeared. This caused the lake to drop hundreds of feet over next several thousand years. By 2,000 years ago Xochimilco became a bay in the southern portion of Texcoco. Then around the 13th or 14th century the Aztecs built large causeways effectively creating a new lake.

These lakes were the home of many Mesoamerican cultures, including the Teotihuacanos, the Toltecs, and the Aztecs.

Due to its shallow waters and the freshwater springs that lined the south shore of the lake, Lake Xochimilco was the center of chinampa agriculture in the centuries of the pre-Columbian era. This made the region a prime target for the expansionist Aztecs, who obtained control over the lake in a series of campaigns, from c. 1432 until 1440, during the reign of the Aztec Hueyi Tlatoani, Itzcóatl.

After the Spanish conquered the Aztec empire in 1521, they destroyed the dams and sluice gates. This, along with the sharp decline in the native population, led to the near-abandonment of the chinampa gardens.

The five lakes within the Valley of Mexico have now largely disappeared, drained to reduce flooding. Only the Xochimilco canals remain from the original Lake Xochimilco. Chinamperos work their chinampa gardens between the canals.