By Isla Quinn
Willows. Water. A long flat boat with a name painted over its arch.
That is the picture most people carry of Xochimilco, and it is a fair one. But the place is also a farm, and a very old one, sitting inside one of the largest cities in the Americas. This page sorts out which parts are boat ride and which parts are farmland, and flags the spots where the sources do not line up.
Where it is, and what the name says
Britannica, an encyclopedia, calls Xochimilco a district of Mexico City in the Valley of Mexico, on Lake Xochimilco, at 7,461 feet (2,274 meters) above sea level. It puts downtown 14 miles (23 kilometers) away, to the north-northwest. UNESCO says Xochimilco lies 28 kilometers south of the city. Those are two different measurements, and we do not choose between them. Our reading: one is likely a straight-line figure and the other a road or reference-point figure, but neither source says so.
The name comes from Nahuatl. Britannica translates it as “where the flowers grow,” and Wikipedia as “flower field.”
What a chinampa is
According to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, the chinampas are an “articulated set of floating artificial islands” in Xochimilco, built in a way passed down orally since Aztec times. The FAO lists the steps: mark the perimeter, cut branches and stalks of ahuejote, the native willow, fix a frame around stakes, then fill it with two layers, one of organic matter and one of lake-bottom sludge. Rows of ahuejote line the canals. The FAO gives the channels as averaging 1.5 meters deep and 4 to 6 meters wide.
Britannica tells it a little differently: farmers built rafts from branches and reeds, covered them with lake mud, and the rafts later took root and became islands. UNESCO calls them human-made islands in a shallow lake, sometimes called “floating” gardens, and quotes the nomination as saying they are “one of the most productive and sustainable agricultural systems in the world.”
What grows on them
The FAO says historically maize and vegetables such as chile, tomato and squash were the main crops, and that production has since diversified. It counts 51 domesticated and 96 non-domesticated plant species in the system. Britannica says Xochimilco is still an important market-gardening and flower-producing center, even though the city grew around it in the late twentieth century.
What a trajinera is
Wikipedia calls trajineras colorful, gondola-like boats. Britannica says they are flat-bottomed and carry thousands of Mexican and foreign visitors on weekend outings. A commercial guide, Mexico City Guide, adds that they are brightly painted, poled by a pilot, and hired per boat rather than per person. Wikipedia gives the canal network as about 170 kilometers.
Dates in order
- About 1,000 years ago: pre-Hispanic peoples develop the chinampas, according to Wikipedia.
- 1987: Xochimilco is inscribed by UNESCO as part of the “Historic Centre of Mexico City and Xochimilco,” under criteria (ii), (iii), (iv) and (v).
- 1993: Mexico City begins a program to improve municipal sewage treatment and reverse the deterioration of the canals, according to Britannica.
- 2017: the chinampa system is designated a Globally Important Agricultural Heritage System, according to the FAO.
Side by side
Wikipedia says about 5,000 chinampas still exist in their original form, then says the center of Xochimilco has about 200, covering 1,800 hectares. They may count different areas. Wikipedia also gives the borough’s area as 122 square kilometers in one place and 125 in another. A promotional lake guide says Aztec tribes began building dams in the 14th century, which created the lake; Wikipedia’s date for the chinampas themselves is much older. These are different claims about different things, and we do not try to join them. On the trip from the city center, a commercial guide says about an hour by the Tren Ligero, which connects to Metro Line 2; another guide says about 45 minutes. We name neither as correct.
What kind of sources these are
UNESCO’s World Heritage listing and the FAO’s heritage-systems page, which are official descriptions; Britannica, an encyclopedia; Wikipedia, which anyone can edit; and two commercial travel guides. We read no Mexico City government page and no boat operator’s own site.
What we left out
Boat prices, which two guides give. Pickup points and rules at the docks. The Island of the Dolls, which we judged to be a story we could not source properly. The axolotl’s conservation status, because the only page that mentioned it is a promotional blog that also mislabels another animal. Day of the Dead event listings, which change from year to year.
Quick answers
What does Xochimilco mean? Britannica says “where the flowers grow.” Wikipedia says “flower field.” Both trace the name to Nahuatl.
What are chinampas? The FAO describes them as artificial islands built of willow-staked frames filled with organic matter and lake-bottom sludge, separated by canals.
Is Xochimilco a World Heritage site? Yes. UNESCO inscribed it in 1987 as part of the Historic Centre of Mexico City and Xochimilco.
Related on this site: mariachi-instruments-history-unesco, nixtamal-masa-tortilla-lime-corn, cempasuchil-mexican-marigold-name-and-plant
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