The ancient Aztecs built Tenochtitlan, the city-fortress capital of their empire, in the middle of Lake Texcoco in the Valley of Mexico in 1325. This monumental city rose from a network of canals and artificial islands，replete with fertile gardens, gleaming towers, causeways to the mainland and aqueducts for fresh water. Two hundred years later, the Spanish conquered and razed the city, and then rebuilt their capital on top of the original urban grid of canals, city, and farmland. Renamed Mexico City, it became one of the most important and beautiful cities in the Americas, referred to as the "Venice of the New World" and the "City of Palaces."
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