Late Middle Ages · North America · Technology
1448
Aztec Flood and Dike Reconstruction
1448
Catastrophic flooding inundated Tenochtitlan after Lake Texcoco overflowed its banks during exceptional rains. Moctezuma I commissioned the philosopher-king Nezahualcoyotl of Texcoco to design a massive dike, ten miles long, separating the dangerous salt waters of the main lake from the freshwater lagoons surrounding the island capital. The engineering project saved the city from future inundation and demonstrated Mesoamerican hydraulic mastery at its most ambitious scale.
In context
Also in 1448 (3 other events on record)
- Machu Picchu Construction Begins · South America · Technology
- Second Battle of Kosovo · Europe · War
- Concordat of Vienna · Europe · Religion
Before and after in North America
- Before: 1445: Aztec Templo Mayor Enlarged
- After: 1450: Aztec Great Famine
Before and after in Technology
Era
Late Middle Ages (1301–1500), one of 874 events from that era on Saeculum.