Tenochtitlan — The Island City

They built it on a lake. An island city connected to the mainland by three great causeways, with aqueducts carrying fresh water, markets larger than any in Spain, temples that could be seen from fifty miles away, and a population of 300,000 people — making it one of the largest cities in the world in 1500. When the Spanish arrived, their own soldiers wept at its beauty. When they destroyed it, they buried it under what is now Mexico City. It is still there, beneath the streets.

These signs carry the eagle on the cactus, the causeways, the great temple, and the memory of a city that should still exist.