Prehispanic CDMX Tour - Trips by Jose Lozano Nava

CDMX

Prehispanic

In the XIII century a tribe from Aztlan arrived at the shores of lake Texcoco; they got kicked out by the locals and settled instead in the middle of the lake founding the ancient cities of Tenochtitlán-Tlatelolco that eventually got destroyed but thanks to “happy accidents” the ancient prehispanic past has been slightly recover; and with a lot of imagination, you can feel like a Native American from the XVI century for a day.

This walking tour would take you throughout the north/central part of the city in the hunt for the remaining ruins of the Chichimec and Mexica empires; and where you can see how the contemporary “indigenas” keep traditions alive. There are 4 different zones of the city to explore in this tour: Tenayuca, Tlatelolco, Chapultepec and El Centro; some of them are quite rustic and other ones are peaceful but all of them are charming, full of other historical buildings and street food. The Mexicas didn't really invented anything (besides chinampas); their traditions come from the Teotihuacán Empire with its golden age in the 400s; and from the Toltec empire with its gold en age in the 1000s. They were more of a warrior empire who subjugated the people that at some point discriminated them, and yes they sacrificed a lot of them. The tour suggest visiting 3 archeological sites in the morning; seeing a traditional dance, the Anthropology Museum plus a spiritual cleanse in the afternoon; and to finish the day a quick visit to the Templo Mayor and street tacos in the evening. So get ready to be stuck in traffic, feel like your life is at danger and experience the Mexican mysticism; and don’t forget to put on your hippie outfit. There are other archeological zones to explore in the south of the city plus the channels of Xochimilco and the Museo Anahuacalli if you want to have a second prehispánic day.