How the Aztecs Built a City on a Lake Island

Welcome — I am Tlazo, a scribe of Tenochtitlan! Our great city sits on an island in the middle of Lake Texcoco, in the land that is now the country of Mexico, in North America. Building on an island was clever: the water protected us from enemies. But an island brings hard problems too — where does the food grow? Where is the road? My people solved both. We built long stone paths called causeways reaching from the island to the shore, so people and goods could cross the water. We also invented chinampas — rectangular garden beds anchored in the shallow lake. Farmers wove reeds into a mat, piled mud on top, and planted corn, beans, and squash right on the lake surface. If you ever feel confused, picture a floating garden bed the size of a room — that is a chinampa! Tenochtitlan grew into one of the largest cities in the world because of these two inventions.