What is so special about the location of Mexico City?

Question

Since 1325, the area we know today as Mexico City has held some sort of cultural or historical bond. The bond is so strong that, no matter what, no matter how bad a shape the country gets, they always return to it even though the entire city is sinking into the earth as we speak ... at just a few centimeters a year. There have been several times throughout history where Mexico "temporarily" changed its capital city to Querétaro, Querétaro. The change would never last over a year before they moved it back to Mexico City. My question, what is so special about the Mexico City area that causes the government to return to it every time? Even if they got into a situation today where they had to relocate the capital city, I am by now convinced that they would in fact return to it ... with all its air pollution, toxic waste and overfilled landfills. Is there a definite reason for this or does the Mexican government just aim to use Mexico City until all of the buildings collapse. I even read an article published November 1949 in Popular Mechanics were they were pitching construction techniques to accommodate for the sinking. I am baffled.

Answer 1

The connection to Mexico City is based in Aztec history and is woven into the identity of many Mexican people. The story is that the Aztec people roamed as hunter gatherers. There was a prophecy that when they say an eagle land on a cactus with a snake in it mouth, that would be their destined home. When the Aztec arrived at Lake Texcoco, sure enough there was the eagle, the cactus, and the snake. They drained the marshy area and built their capital directly on that spot. Now this is all good and well as story but you also have to understand the connection many Mexican people have with their Aztec ancestry. Starting in the 50s (and maybe even before then), those of mixed blood ancestry (Spanish and native) began to push back against years of repression. Many took pride in the fact that they had come from a strong empire, and the imagery that you see today of Aztecs, sacrifice, etc, all established themselves at that time. At this point, much of the culture now ties itself to its native ancestry more so that the imperialist Spanish. So to sum it up, if the ruling elite were to declare Mexico City uninhabitable and try to abandon it they would quickly be replaced as the people would see it as avoiding their great ancestors. From an American standpoint, imagine if we as Americans decided to abandon Washington DC, including all of it monuments, memorials, etc. most people would strongly strongly protest.