Photo: Copyright ONU México, ©2024
The Peñón Víejo area is a dramatically historical area in Mexico City's east. Today, the little mountain is just inside the city border, at the Calzada de Ignacio Zaragoza. City residents recognize it as the beginning of today's Puebla highway.
But of course, the Peñón del Marqués (as it's also known) was an island far across the ancient lake waters. The Island of Tepepolco is thought to have been the site of a country home of the Emperor Moctezuma. Hernán Cortés may have used parts of the island to launch his naval assault on the ancient capital in 1521.
But today, the heights of the mountain look across vast stretches of Iztapalapa and the neighboring city of Nezahualcoyotl in the east. The historic community of Santa Martha Acatitla long relied on the mountain springs to water their extensive farm fields.
Today, visitors to the Balneario Elba water park at the very base of the mountain will recall that history. And something of the spirit of that time lives on in the area's Utopia parks. These too boast aquatic installations.
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