Metro Canal del Norte

Metro Canal del Norte is a little-known station in Venustiano Carranza. It’s centered between the neighborhoods of Janitzio and Michoacana. Janitzio is one of the rare place names in Mexico City that derives from the Purépecha language. Janitsia, means “corn flower” or “corn silk.” Across the Metro, the neighboring colonia is Michoacana which derives from the Nahuatl, and can be roughly translated as “place of the fishermen,” referring to those on Lake Pátzcuaro. Janitzia is the most famous island on the lake, and today is home to the giant and very famous Monument to Morelos.

The two distant parts of Michoacan are represented here along the old Canal of the North. This very famous waterway opened in 1780 to connect the center of Mexico City with the Basilica de Guadalupe to the north. It was famous throughout the late colonial period although similar water passages would have been used throughout the area of the ancient Lake Texcoco.

The Canal del Norte was built to supplement the Avenida Misterios, lavishly decorated in the 1670s.  It’s twin street, the Calzada de Guadalupe didn’t open until 1786.

Today Metro Canal del Norte commemorates the old canal, and the present day avenue of the same name. To the north, just across that avenue is the famous Mercado Minillas. This is nearly the only way to recall the area’s long stretch as a beef processing plant. Responsible for far more daily riders though, to the south is a giant educational complex that includes several grade schools and one of the Science and Technology High Schools run by the National Politechnic University.