The Lost Causeways of Tenochtitlan

In Episode 50, Lucas and Luna explore the engineering marvel that made Tenochtitlan one of the most accessible cities of its time: the great causeways. While prior episodes covered aqueducts, chinampas, and flood control, the causeways themselves tell a story of power, defense, and daily life. Lucas explains how the Mexica built three main stone-and-earth roads—Tlacopan, Iztapalapa, and Tepeyacac—linking the island city to the mainland. They discuss construction techniques, including wooden piles driven into the lakebed, stone facing, and removable bridges for defense. Luna learns about traffic control, with separate lanes for commoners and nobles, and how the causeways enabled Cortés's siege. The episode also touches on the maintenance system, where each calpulli was responsible for its section, and the symbolic role of the causeways in processions and tribute display. By the end, what seems like simple roads reveals itself as a sophisticated infrastructure project that mirrored the organization of the empire itself. #Tenochtitlan #Causeways #Mexica #AztecEngineering #Tlacopan #Iztapalapa #Tepeyacac #Cortes #SiegeOfTenochtitlan #Calpulli #Nahuatl #FexingoHistory #History #AncientInfrastructure #Mesoamerica #UrbanPlanning #Conquest #Resilience Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo