Xochimilco was the most important city of the Xochimilca people, one of the Nahua tribes that migrated to the Mesoamerica region.

The Xochimilca people, considered to be one of the seven Nahua tribes that migrated into the Valley of Mexico, first settled around 900 CD in Cuahilama, near what is now Santa Cruz Acalpixca.

Over time, it grew and began to dominate other areas on the south side of the lakes such as Mixquic, Tláhuac, Culhuacan and even parts of what is now the State of Morelos.

She is credited with adding a number of distinctive dishes to the area’s cuisine, with inclusions such as necuatolli, chileatolli (atole with chili pepper), esquites and tlapiques.

During the battle, Cortés was almost killed when he fell off his horse, but he was saved by a soldier named Cristóbal de Olea.

According to legend, it was after this battle that Cuauhtémoc came to Xochimilco and planted a juniper tree in the San Juan neighborhood to commemorate the event.

The Spanish destroyed the Quilaztli during the Conquest, and replaced it with the San Bernardino de Siena Church, which would become the social and political center of the colonial city.

After the Conquest, Apochquiyauhtzin, the last lord of Xochimilco, was baptized with the name of Luís Cortés Cerón de Alvarado in 1522 and he was allowed to continue governing under the Spanish.