Have you ever visited the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico City? If you have, you’ve probably heard the local Mexicans make the bewildering statement that the city was built on a lake. Crazy as it sounds, they’re not pulling your leg!
Several centuries ago, the Valley was a verdant bowl containing five lakes, one of which was Lake Texcoco. Two small islands rose above the waters of this lake.
It was to these islands that the Aztecs came in the early 14th century. There, according to legend, they saw a sign telling them to establish a city there: an eagle eating a snake, an image that now appears on the Mexican flag.
Undaunted by the diminutive size of the islands and the extent of the waters, the Aztecs settled down. Soon, they created a vast network of floating farm plots and homes attached to the islands, creating the powerful city of Tenochtitlan (now Mexico City).
This bustling city is what the Spanish found when they arrived in Mexico 200 years later. Over the next three centuries, the lake was drained and the city extended on dry land, but at the time of the apparitions on Tepeyac Hill, there was still a large amount of water in the city.
Tepeyac Hill itself was a blunt peninsula. This means that the old basilica, located at its foot, would indeed have appeared to be built on a lake.
Our Lady of Guadalupe is dear to the whole Church, but especially to the Church in the Americas. We’ve designed a rosary to reflect that devotion—the Guadalupe Rosary. Formed of delicate clay rosebud beads, this rosary offers our prayers to Our Lady like a fragrant bouquet. Get this unique devotional today at The Catholic Company!
