World · Field notes

Mexico

Three details to notice, with the sources behind each story.

history

An ancient city rerouted a river

Teotihuacan, an ancient city near Mexico City, had neighbourhoods as well as enormous pyramids. Its builders planned the city around a broad central avenue and even changed a river's course to fit that layout.

Source: UNESCO: Pre-Hispanic City of Teotihuacan · Accessed 2026-10-06

Pyramids and buildings lining the Avenue of the Dead at Teotihuacan. — The Avenue of the Dead and surrounding monuments at Teotihuacan, Mexico.
Polimerek / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 3.0. Resized and converted to WebP; no cropping. · CC BY-SA 3.0

culture

Growing food on islands between canals

At Xochimilco in Mexico City, farmers created islands of land in shallow lake water and grew crops on them. These plots are called chinampas; canals between them preserve a way of farming from before the Spanish conquest.

Source: UNESCO: Historic Centre of Mexico City and Xochimilco · Accessed 2026-10-06

A canal with growing plots along its bank and a boat in the distance at Xochimilco. — A canal beside chinampas, human-made growing plots, at Xochimilco in Mexico City.
Emmanuel Eslava / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 4.0. Resized and converted to WebP; no cropping. · CC BY-SA 4.0

nature

Islands that are the tops of volcanoes

Far off Mexico's Pacific coast, the four Revillagigedo islands are the tops of volcanoes rising from an underwater mountain range. Currents meet around these peaks, creating rich waters visited by sharks, whales and giant manta rays.

Source: UNESCO: Archipielago de Revillagigedo · Accessed 2026-10-06

San Benedicto, a volcanic island in the Revillagigedo archipelago. — An aerial photograph of San Benedicto Island, Mexico, taken in 1955. The volcanic crater rises above the Pacific Ocean.
Adrian Richards, U.S. Navy Hydrographic Office / Wikimedia Commons / Public domain. Resized and converted to WebP; no cropping. · Public domain