Ajusco Mountains

Ajusco rises at the southern edge of the Basin of Mexico, its volcanic summit sometimes whitened by winter snow. Water sinks into the mountain and reappears in springs around Xochimilco. Pottery and obsidian fragments on the summit ridge bear witness to offerings made there before the Spanish conquest. An image of Tlaloc, the rain deity, was also found on the height. In the eighteenth century, priests described rites held in a cave containing older sacred images.