Iztapalapa, Mexico City - History

History

The borough is named after a city which was founded here in the pre-Hispanic period. “Iztapalapa” comes from Nahuatl and means “in the waters of the banks,” referring to its position along the lakeshore, situated partly on dry land and partly over water.

Like the pre-Hispanic villages of Xochimilco and Tláhuac, Iztapalapa began as a village on the shores of the lake system and dedicated to farming on chinampas. The first settlements on this side of Lake Texcoco were formed by refugees from the fall of Teotihuacan at the base of the Cerro de Culhuacán hill. These people were led by a chief named Mixcoatl and would become known as the Culhuas. At that time, the area was a peninsula jutting onto the lake formed by the Sierra de Santa Catarina. The first city on this peninsula was Culhuacán on the south side next to the Cerro de la Estrella, which grew to contain various neighborhoods surrounded by chinampas, or artificial islands in the lake used to grow food. These and the exploitation of lake resources was the basis of the city’s economy.

Chinampa agriculture would be important in many areas of the Valley of Mexico, including the area of Iztapalapa. Chinampas here were made from reeds, tree branches and lake mud, growing corn, beans and wide variety of vegetables. These chinampas, now known as neighborhoods called Tezontitla, El Bordo, El Moral, Las Largas, Las Cuadradas, Tecorrales, Zapotla and others were separated by small canals and some of them had docks. They were also an ecosystem home to wide variety of land and aquatic flora and fauna, including storks, flowers, trees, reeds, quetzals, frogs, and fish. The chinampas remained in private hands until 1970, when they were expropriated to construct the Central de Abasto, which eliminated them.

Culhuacan was moved to a site called Tollantzingo in the 950s, and shortly after that migrants from Tula came into the area to settle as well, bringing with them the worship of Quetzalcoatl. Other pre-Hispanic settlements in the Iztapalapa area were established and grew as well, including Hitzilopochco (Churubusco), Mexicaltzingo and Iztapalapa. These would be the four main settlements of the area, with close relations that would last into the colonial era, when they were part of the Mexicaltzingo corregimiento. The village of Iztapalapa has its origins in the fall of Teotihuacan in the 8th century. Ancient Iztapalapa has alliances and disputes mostly with the other dominions with economies based on chinampas, such as Xochimilco, Chalco and Mixquic. By the 11th century, the Toltec descendants had become dominant with the area with Culhuacán becoming the capital of a dominion in 1114. The main rulers of this city included Nauhyotl, Cuauhtexpetlatzin, Huetzin, Nonoalcatle and Cuauhtonal who ruled between 1120 and 1251. In the middle of the 13th century, the Toltecs were displaced by the Chichimecas, who ruled it from 1250 to 1400 under various rulers.

One of the tribes that moved into the Valley of Mexico in the 14th century were the Mexica, at a time when the city of Culhuacán was powerful. However, the area was divided into a number of dominions around the lake system of the valley, which vied among themselves for dominance. As late arrivals, the Mexica wandered among the various dominions and were granted permission to settle in Culhuacán territory. They lived together mostly peacefully. However, records indicate that the Mexicas were forced into servitude as punishment for raids by young warriors to carry off women from neighboring settlements. One legend states that problems between the two peoples began when the Mexica asked for and received a Culhua princess, Achitómetla, to become a goddess of war. The ceremony required the woman to be sacrified, angering Culhuacán. The Mexica were eventually forced off Culhua lands and forced to settle on an island on the west side of the lake, although the stronger city of Culhuacán maintained relations with them. This new settlement, called Tenochtitlan, would begin rising and dominating since its establishment in 1325. The Aztec Triple Alliance would be formed in the early 15th century, as part of the process of uniting the Nahuatl-speaking peoples of the valley.

Part of this process included legitimizing the lineage Tenochtitlan’s rulers. These Mexica rulers used the time they spent in Culhuacán territory, and the links formed from it for this purpose. The ruling family could trace its ancestors back to Culhuacán ruler Nahuyotl. This and various marital ties from the past would make these new rulers descendents from the old. This was formalized with the government of Acamapichtli, who was granted the title of “culhua tecuhtli” (Lord of the Culhuas) . The Alliance came to include thirty dominions, with Tenochtitlan, Texcoco and Tlacopan, with Texcoco dominating the formerly powerful city of Culhuacán as well as Iztapalapa. As Tenochtitlan’s power grew, it eventually ruled the new empire alone.

As one of the first members of the Alliance, Iztapalapa was not conquered. It was indirectly ruled by Tenochtitlan as part of a confederation of four city-states (along with Mexicaltzingo, Huitzilopochco and Culhuacán) allied with the Mexica. Later, Itzcoatl’s son, Huehua Cuitlahuatzin would be made ruler of Iztapalapa. Under this arrangement, Iztapalapa did not pay tribute to Tenochtitlan, they did have to supply labor for major projects as well as military service. Iztapalapa was important in pre Hispanic times militarily and religiously as the side of the Huixachtécatl, today called the Cerro de la Estrella. This was the site of the New Fire ceremony, held once every 52 years, beginning anew cycle of years. The ceremony also required the destruction of all household goods to be replaced by new. Women and children would stay at home while the men participated in the distribution of the “new fire.” It was celebrated a total of nine times, with the last one in 1507 (2 acatl by the Aztec calendar). For this last celebration, Moctezuma had a temple construction on the summit called the Ayauhcalli, later named “the church of the New Fire” by the Spanish.

By the time the Spanish arrived, Culhuacán was no longer an important city; rather it had been eclipsed by Iztapalapa as one of the Aztec royal town, chosen as such due to its defensive position. At that time, the area has about 10,000 inhabitants dedicated to chinampa agriculture and the raising of fish and birds. A causeway linking Iztapalapa and Tenochtitlan was one of the most important roads in the area. The construction of this causeway began in 1429 under Itzcoatl, using labor from peoples from the south of the valley such as the Xochimilcas. It consisted of artificial land built up from the shallow lake bottom, rising about a meter and a half over the lake’s surface and extending for about 8 kilometres (5.0 mi). It was wide enough for horses to cross in pairs. The causeway was divided by a fort called Xoloc, made of stone with towers, merlons and gates to control entrance and exit. This causeway also had a branch leading to Coyoacán. Its ruler was Cuitláhuac, born in 1476 as younger brother of Moctezuma Ilhuicamina and son of Axayacatl. Cuitláhuac received the Spanish in Iztapalapa before they went onto Tenochtitlan. They met in a garden which most Aztec lords had as a refuge and to demonstrate culture. In the center of the garden was a large palace made of sandstone and fine woods such as cedar.

In 1519, the Spanish took Moctezuma, Cacamatzin (ruler of Texcoco), Cuitlahuac and other nobles as prisoners. Cortés was then forced to return to Veracruz to face Spanish authorities, leaving Pedro de Alvarado in charge. Alvarado had hundreds of Aztec nobles killed. After Cortés returned, he liberated Cuitláhuac in exchange for supplies, allowing the lord to organize an army against the Spanish. Cuitlahuac succeeded Moctezuma as Aztec emperor and forced the Spanish to flee during the Noche Triste. However, Cuitlahuac was ruler only somewhere between 40 and 80 days according to various records. He spent that time repairing the city of Tenochtitlan as the Spanish regrouped in Tlaxcala. Cuitlahuac died of smallpox in December of 1520, with Cuauhtémoc succeeding him.

After the Spanish and their allies regrouped in Tlaxcala, Cortés decided to attack Iztapalapa before besieging the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan, in part to secure supplies. The city of Iztapalapa had about 10,000 people with about two-thirds of its structures built over water. Eight thousand Aztecs defended the city on land and on water. Cortés and his indigenous allied burned, massacred and destroyed the city completely. But after the battle, when the Spanish let down their guard, Iztapalapa opened water channels to flood the city and drown the invaders. Most of the Spanish survived, but many of their Indian allies did not and were drowned. The Spanish lost all of their gunpowder.

After the Conquest, the pre-Hispanic temples of the area were destroyed, the Iztapalapa and surrounding cities were subjugated by Gonzalo de Sandoval. The process was brutal, as the area was highly loyal to Tenochtitlan, with more than 5,000 people killed by both war and epidemics. By the first census of New Spain in 1552, Culhuacan was down to 817 inhabitants, and 260 in Mexicaltzingo.

Following the destruction of the temples, Augustinians and Franciscans moved in to build churches and monasteries. The Augustinians began construction of the Culhuacán monastery in 1552, built in various stages. It was dedicated to John the Baptist. They founded a school to teach indigenous languages which operated for 100 years. The Franciscans built a monastery in Huitzilopochco as well as small churches in San Marcos Mexicaltzingo and in Santa Marta and Nativitas Tepetlacingo. The churches of San Lucas Evangelista, San Marcos Mexicaltzingo, San Juan Evangelista and the chapels of Calvario and Santa Martha Acatitla were all built over foundations of pre-Hispanic temples which the Spanish had destroyed. These were built with much of the material from the destroyed temples. However, by the end of the 18th century, all of these would be in the hands of normal clergy.

Iztapalapa and several other nearby communities were initially under the direct control of Mexico City, but shortly after only Iztapalapa would remain so. Mexicaltzingo belonged to the Spanish Crown from early on. Iztapalapa became a tributary of Mexico City, required to provide food, manual labor and more. At the end of the 16th century, it too became property of the Spanish Crown. Other areas of the modern borough were made into encomiendas. Culhuacan came under the control of Cristobal de Oñate, which remained in the family until the system was abolished. Later in the colonial period, the area would become a corregimiento headed by Mexicaltzingo and later an “alcaldia mayor” as it grew to include areas such as Los Reyes and Santa Marta.

During the colonial period, Iztapalapa was very rural, notable only as one of the primary providers of produce and flowers to Mexico City and its lake and canal transportation. Culhuacán had eighteen villages surrounding it in the pre Hispanic era, butby the 18th century, only San Lorenzo Tezonco and Santiago Acahualtepec remained. In the middle of the 18th century, there were still only 80 families in Iztapalapa, with 31 of them being Spanish. By the end of the same century, that would become 130 indigenous families distributed into nine barrios and three villages. At the end of the colonial period Iztapalapa would also include three haciendas and two ranches. During much of this time, Iztapalapa was also a stopover for travelers between Mexico City and Puebla or Veracruz. There were two main canals through here that connected the area with Chalco and Xochimilco. One of these was the Canal de la Viga, which was an important means of transporting corn, beans, vegetables and more into the capital These canals had control and customs checkpoints which divided Mexico City from rural areas. The most important of these was the La Viga control point due to the merchandise that passed through.

After the Mexican War of Independence, the Federal District of Mexico City was established as the new nation’s capital in 1824. The village of Iztapalapa became part of this district at the same time, but the borough had not yet been established. It would remain an autonomous settlement. In 1828, it was one of the municipalities outside of Mexico City proper. The rest of the 19th century would be concerned with disease and the status of the area’s water transportation. A cholera epidemic in 1833 prompted the first passion play to be performed in this area, which has been performed since. In the middle of the 19th century, the town of Iztapalapa had 3,416 inhabitants. Drainage of the lakes in the Valley of Mexico would have an effect on the size and arrangement of water transportation. According to records, the ancient “Calzada de los Indios” (Indian Causeway) that linked Iztapalapa and the Villa Guadalupe was destroyed in 1835. Much of what is now the borough was lake or crisscrossed by various canals, which carried barge, canoe and even steamship traffic until the late 19th century. New canals were dug to connect Mexico City with Peñón Viejo, Chalco and San Isidro as well as the villages of Ayotla, Tlapicahua and Tlapacoya. By the end of this century, much of the lake and many of the small canals had dried. The main ones were the Mexicaltzingo canal and those near the Churubusco River. The Mexicalcingo canal was widened for steamships.

The canals would remain a part of the borough until the mid-20th century. Efforts to preserve the system began in 1920, when ejido owners turned over land to construct new ones. In the 1930s, many of the barrios of Iztapalapa were still marked by canals and still grew vegetables, fruits and flowers. Major traffic was confined mostly to the Canal Nacional on the borough’s border. However, groundwater pumping started in the 1950s lowered water tables and began the process of destroying the rest of the canals, and most of the chinampas along with them.

Industrialization began in the area in the 1890s but agriculture remained the most important economic activity. Most of the population in the area still lived in poor huts. In 1916, the haciendas and ranches of Iztapalapa were broken up and divided into ejidos; however the area remained extremely poor and there were disputes between Iztapalapa and neighboring Zapotitlán over ejido land. In 1920, the population was over 20,000 Iztapalapa would remain rural and poor until the 1950s, when its population and its urbanization began in earnest. In the 1940s, the urban sprawl of Mexico City had reached sections of the borough and furthering this was promoted by the federal government which favored industry over agriculture. In 1940, the chinampas suffered when the Canal de la Viga was drained, and only runoff from the Cerro de la Estrella was still available. Groundwater pumping dried swamps, allowing for more urbanization.

Iztapalapa had been semi-independent of Mexico City since the colonial era, but politically organized in various ways. It has been part of the Federal District since it was created, but this District was an unstable entity in the 19th century as Liberals, who favored a federalist government, fought with Conservatives, who favored a more centralized regime. Thus much of the borough would either be part of the Federal District or the State/Department of Mexico, depending on who was in power during the first half of the 19th century. The Federal District, including Iztapalapa, would be permanently restored in 1848, and then enlarged to its current dimensions between 1853 and 1854. Since that time, the Federal District has been reorganized several times, usually separating the Mexico City and making the other areas of the District either districts or municipalities. The current borough system was established in 1928. This created the current borough of Iztapalapa, centered on and named over the former municipality of Iztapalapa. This borough’s government was appointed by the Mexican federal government until 1970, when borough presidents began to be democratically elected.

From the 1950s to the present, the borough’s history has been dominated by its population growth and urbanization, along with the problems that come with it. Before 1970, the area still had various types of flora including forested hills, ponds and other surface water, grasslands and more. Chinampas and other farmland still existed as well. In the 1970s, waves of migrants from other parts of the country began to move into the borough. This prompted the building of a number of large apartment complexes including Unidad Vicente Guerrero, Unidad Ejército de Oriente, Unidad Santa Cruz Meyehualco, Conjunto Urbano Popular Ermita Zaragoza and Unidad Habitacional Ejército Constitucionalista. By 1980, all the of land that could be developed legally was, but the population continued to grow. In the 1990s, the borough had growth rates of over 100% according to INEGI. By 2000, the population of the borough accounted for over 20% of the total of the Federal District, the largest in population. Now almost all of the land in the borough has been urbanized, with only the highest elevations and a few family farm plots without buildings. The only green spaces are parks controlled by local or federal authorities, where various types of trees can still be found.

In 2006, there was a dispute in the election for borough president, between Rafael Acosta Angeles, better known as “Juanito” and Clara Brugada. Juanito and supporters blocked the main entrance to the borough offices, but allowed employees access through other entrances. The protest was to have him declared the winner of borough president elections. In the end, Brugada retained the position.