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Venice in the Americas
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  Quote Guests Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Topic: Venice in the Americas
    Posted: 18-Jun-2007 at 00:51

It is curious, but during the exploration times Venice was found twice in the Americas. The first was preserved in the name of Venezuela, which means "little Venice".

The name "Venezuela" is believed to have originated from the cartographer Amerigo Vespucci who, together with Alonso de Ojeda, led a 1499 naval expedition along the northwestern coast's Gulf of Venezuela. On reaching the Guajira Peninsula, the crew observed the distinctive stilt villages (palafitos) that the indigenous Au people had built over the water. This reminded Vespucci of the city of Venice (Italian: Venezia), so he named the region "Venezuola",[3] meaning "little Venice" in Italian. In Spanish, the suffix -zuela is used as a diminutive term (e.g., mujerzuela, cazuela); thus, the term's original sense would have been that of a "little Venice".[
 
 
 
And the other case was the discovery in Mexico of the magnificent city of Tenochtitlan. A real Venice of the Americas that was, unfortunatelly, destroyed by the Spaniards after they dried the lake on where it stand. Today Mexico City cover it up.
 
Tenochtitlan
 
 
 
Image:Tenoch2A.jpg
 
Tenochtitlan covered an estimated 8 to 13.4 square kilometers, situated on the western side of the shallow Lake Texcoco. It was connected to the mainland by causeways leading north, south, and west of the city. These causeways were interrupted by bridges that allowed canoes and other traffic to pass freely.
 
The only place were one can see canoes in Mexico city today is in Xochimilco:
 
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Posts: 3335 		  Quote pekau Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 20-Jun-2007 at 19:27
Interesting connections...
     
   
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Posts: 85 		  Quote Yaomitl Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 06-Jul-2007 at 09:09
Probably kind of incidental, but I've heard Mexcaltitlan described as an American Venice, which is probably stretching the analogy somewhat. I've not been there but it's right at the top of my list.
also
This is Mexcaltitlan anyway.
 
 
From what I understand (dammit - can't seem to type below the image for some reason) the chinampas of Lake Chalco were far older than those of Tenochtitlan, possibly dating back to the Late Classic. Lake Texcoco was saline and it was only after the construction of Nezahualcoyotl's dike (early 15th century?) that they were able to really get going with Tenochtitlan's chinampa programme. Xochimilco is f****** beautiful by the way.
 


Edited by Yaomitl - 06-Jul-2007 at 09:27
"For as long as the world shall endure, the honour and the glory of Mexico-Tenochtitlan must never be forgotten."
- Chimalpahin Quautlehuanitzin
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  Quote Guests Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 06-Jul-2007 at 21:01
Great post! and great picture!
 
 
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Posts: 358 		  Quote kurt Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 20-Jul-2007 at 08:15

Interesting ... Too bad Spanish and Portuguese colonialism ultimately ruined the Venetian Empire.
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  Quote Guests Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 20-Jul-2007 at 10:23
They ruined the city. The Aztec culture is still alive in a syncretic form in the folk and traditions of the Mexican people. See the threads about the Virgen of Guadaloupe or the cult of Santa Muerte (Holly Death), and even in Mexican food and Tequila, and you'll realize nothing was erased but just re-written in Spanish.

Edited by pinguin - 20-Jul-2007 at 10:25
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Posts: 1457 		  Quote elenos Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 21-Jul-2007 at 00:52
Wonderful story. In Europe there has been many lake villages found, but never on such a grand scale. 
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Posts: 85 		  Quote Yaomitl Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 21-Jul-2007 at 06:41
Originally posted by pinguin

They ruined the city. The Aztec culture is still alive in a syncretic form in the folk and traditions of the Mexican people. See the threads about the Virgen of Guadaloupe or the cult of Santa Muerte (Holly Death), and even in Mexican food and Tequila, and you'll realize nothing was erased but just re-written in Spanish.
Very true, my friend. I don't know how things are over there in Chile, but I've been to Mexico a fair few times and you hardly even need to scratch the surface (let alone dig deep) to find that the Conquistadores may have added a few names and moved the furniture around a bit, but it's still the same Mexico as before they showed up.
"For as long as the world shall endure, the honour and the glory of Mexico-Tenochtitlan must never be forgotten."
- Chimalpahin Quautlehuanitzin
<a href="http://www.theotherconquest.com
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  Quote Guests Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 21-Jul-2007 at 09:37
Originally posted by Yaomitl

...
Very true, my friend. I don't know how things are over there in Chile, but I've been to Mexico a fair few times and you hardly even need to scratch the surface (let alone dig deep) to find that the Conquistadores may have added a few names and moved the furniture around a bit, but it's still the same Mexico as before they showed up.
 
Well, although in Chile the European immigration was proportionally larger than in Mexico, and our people look more Spaniard than anything else, we still have very deep Amerindian roots. 
 
Lot of our people still have Amerindian last names like "Chihuailaf" for instance (fog on top of the water", "Calquin" (eagle) or "Milla" (Gold). We have half a million Mapuche natives that represent the 3% of the population and they still talk Mapuche language (a beautiful language), and preserve theirs culture intact. Most of the rest have some Amerindian ancestry. Besides, our daily coloquial language is full of local Mapuche, Aymara and Quechua terminology.
 
The tradition of the countryman include pottery, textiles, legends and customs that come from the Amerindians as well, beside the obvious Iberian roots. Finally, there are Catholic religious carnival dedicated to a Christian figure but obviously based in a native myth, like the Virgin of La Tirana. However, you see the influence more clearly in our traditional foods. There the link is obvious.
 
The same is found all over Hispanic America, without exception. Amerindian culture could be sleeping, or playing a secondary role, but is not dead. Not deat at all.
 
Pinguin
 
 
 
 
 
 
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