Baku, November 19, AZERTAC Located in the central Distrito Federal (Federal District), central Mexico, Xochimilco is built on the site of a pre-Columbian town and is famous for its chinampas (floating gardens).It is also one of few remaining canals that date back to Aztec times along with being Mexico City’s most popular historical site.The name Xochimilco is a combination of the Nahuatl words xochitl and milli and means “where the flowers grow.” The local agriculturalists constructed branch and reed rafts on the lake, covered them with mud from the bottom of the lake, and cultivated fruits, vegetables, and flowers, which they shipped to Tenochtitlan (now Mexico City) via canal. In time, the rafts took root and became islands.Xochimilco is a popular weekend outing for thousands of Mexicans and tourists, who visit the area in colourful trajineras (flat-bottomed boats). It is still an important market-gardening and flower-producing centre for the city, despite its being surrounded by urban sprawl in the latter part of the 20th century. Downtown Mexico City, 14 miles (23 km) to the north-northwest, can be reached via an expressway link or by several major avenues. A campus of the Autonomous Metropolitan University is located in Xochimilco. In 1987, Xochimilco was designated a UNESCO World Heritage site.