The sanctuary of Guadalupe has a college, church, &c.
Just without the city is the sanctuary of Neustra Senora de los Angelos, formerly the retreat of an anchorite. The desert of the Carmelites is five leagues from the city, and here, in an inclosure of three miles, the most austere of these monks live in solitary cells.
About half a league from the city is the rock of the warm-baths.
The village of Traspana is also a place of great resort, the air being thought very wholesome and pure. On a hill in the environs, where there was formerly a palace of Montezuma, is the great aqueduct of Chapultepec, which conveys water to the city; it is above 9000 feet in length. The water of this, is however, not so pure as that of the aqueduct of Sante Fé, which is 30,600 feet in length, and which runs along the Alameda, but is not so beautiful a structure as the former, as the water is not conveyed the whole way over arches.
The surrounding scenery of the metropolis is in all respects highly beautiful and singular; from it are seen the summits of some of the loftiest mountains of North America, and the varied foliage of the cypress, the avenues of elms and poplars, which branch to the city from all quarters, the gardens of oranges and European fruits, the deep verdure of the plain, the golden tint of the ripening corn, and the different shades of the various Mexican plants, conveys, through the medium of a pure and cerulean atmosphere, the utmost delight to the eye of the beholders. The valley in which the city and its neighbourhood rests, is filled with villages and towns, and surrounded with enormous masses reposing on the great plain; two of which, Popocatepetl and Iztaccihuatl, are the most remarkable of the group; the first is continually vomiting fire and smoke, though covered with snow. The Pico de Orisaba is also visible, and forms a grand feature of the scene. On the west of the city, the chain is very high and continuous.
The remains of the former city are inconsiderable; some traces of the great dikes yet subsist, as well as of the aqueducts. The temples have been destroyed, but the foundations of the ancient Mexican habitations are numerous in the environs of the city, and prove that it was much larger than it is at present.
The lake has retired a league from the city, so that it is now situated in a marshy soil to the left of the southern extremity of Lake Tezcuco, and between it and Lakes Xochimilco and Chalco. To the north it has two small lakes, one called Lake San Christoval, and the other Lake Zumpango.
The palace of Montezuma stood opposite to where the viceroyʼs palace now stands, and a palace was erected on the site of Montezumaʼs, by the descendants of Cortez, as they were obliged to resign the original building of the conqueror to the government; this house still belongs to a descendant of Cortez, who is Marquis del Valle de Oaxaca, and is also Duke de Monte Leone in Naples.
The building in which Cortez was stationed when he first entered the city, still shows some of its remains behind the convent of Santa Teresa.