How Mexico City's Mysterious Floating Gardens Helped Feed the City For Hundreds of Years
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Date: 2020-05-20
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Comments and reviews: 7
CurtisCT
I once read a book on the pre-hispanic culture of Mexico just before the Spanish conquest - it was probably the most fascinating thing I've ever read. The book went into great detail about the beautiful floating cities and gardens and the reaction of the Spanish conquistadors, who were in shock and awe at what they saw for the first time. They reported that the cities were like huge floating gardens, meticulously manicured and ordered. They had wide avenues where the prosperous citizens would take evening strolls along the fragrant gardens lining the sides of the avenues. The emperor lived in the center of the city in a huge, sprawling palace complex larger than anything in Europe at the time. The conquistadors were so impressed by the magnitude of the city and its many palaces, gardens and markets that they wrote in their journals that nothing in Europe came close in terms of sheer beauty and grandeur. Within a few short weeks however, the Spaniards would go on to massacre every single inhabitant and utterly destroy the floating garden city until it lay in smoldering ruins. Just something to think about next time we denigrate our neighbors to the south.
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I once read a book on the pre-hispanic culture of Mexico just before the Spanish conquest - it was probably the most fascinating thing I've ever read. The book went into great detail about the beautiful floating cities and gardens and the reaction of the Spanish conquistadors, who were in shock and awe at what they saw for the first time. They reported that the cities were like huge floating gardens, meticulously manicured and ordered. They had wide avenues where the prosperous citizens would take evening strolls along the fragrant gardens lining the sides of the avenues. The emperor lived in the center of the city in a huge, sprawling palace complex larger than anything in Europe at the time. The conquistadors were so impressed by the magnitude of the city and its many palaces, gardens and markets that they wrote in their journals that nothing in Europe came close in terms of sheer beauty and grandeur. Within a few short weeks however, the Spaniards would go on to massacre every single inhabitant and utterly destroy the floating garden city until it lay in smoldering ruins. Just something to think about next time we denigrate our neighbors to the south.
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Chahuk
The entire American continent including what is now Mexico had many Chinampas its how we did our irrigation to feed tons of people abundantly but when the Spaniards conquistadors came to our shores of tenochtitlan and other places the people who were once called Mayans warred with these Spaniards now called (Hispanics) or Latinos after they dried up most of the land and force us to move to different parts of America and now after all the battles and treaties the mayas are now classified as black, and African American and our entire memory of who we are and what we did is lost due to foreign influence and Eugenics.
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The entire American continent including what is now Mexico had many Chinampas its how we did our irrigation to feed tons of people abundantly but when the Spaniards conquistadors came to our shores of tenochtitlan and other places the people who were once called Mayans warred with these Spaniards now called (Hispanics) or Latinos after they dried up most of the land and force us to move to different parts of America and now after all the battles and treaties the mayas are now classified as black, and African American and our entire memory of who we are and what we did is lost due to foreign influence and Eugenics.
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Jon
Toltec tribe? I think you can just say the Toltecs. Adding the tribe label feel kinda weird. Generally the tribal label isn't applied to settled city building societies, though I suppose it could be, but then we should probably start referring to the 'French Tribe' or the 'American Tribe'. Using it only when referring to African or Indigenous American groups, regardless of actual organization, structure, lifestyle or scale feels wrong.
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Toltec tribe? I think you can just say the Toltecs. Adding the tribe label feel kinda weird. Generally the tribal label isn't applied to settled city building societies, though I suppose it could be, but then we should probably start referring to the 'French Tribe' or the 'American Tribe'. Using it only when referring to African or Indigenous American groups, regardless of actual organization, structure, lifestyle or scale feels wrong.
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PinkPonyOfPrey
This is the way to do it. Mexico should start schools whatever that means in the end and gather people from other lake areas around the world and teach how this is done? It's sooo. rightt! Screw this modern civilization and long live ecological equilibrium! :D
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This is the way to do it. Mexico should start schools whatever that means in the end and gather people from other lake areas around the world and teach how this is done? It's sooo. rightt! Screw this modern civilization and long live ecological equilibrium! :D
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Ricky
Wow such a great story and wonderful place. I would love to visit and see things myself. Always wanted to visit Mexico and this might push me to go. Shows just how advanced these cultures were from farming to using the sun and stars for their calendar.
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Wow such a great story and wonderful place. I would love to visit and see things myself. Always wanted to visit Mexico and this might push me to go. Shows just how advanced these cultures were from farming to using the sun and stars for their calendar.
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fordhouse8b
How can the dish be pre-hispanic when it contains both chicken broth and pork, two ingredients which only arrived in Mexico as a consequence of the Columbian Exchange, in the post-conquest era?
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How can the dish be pre-hispanic when it contains both chicken broth and pork, two ingredients which only arrived in Mexico as a consequence of the Columbian Exchange, in the post-conquest era?
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Absolute
Why has this video received such little attention? Almost 2million followers and only 26k views. All other videos do well but not this one. Why?
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Why has this video received such little attention? Almost 2million followers and only 26k views. All other videos do well but not this one. Why?
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