The Aztecs (Mexicas) has one of the most remarkable stories in world history. Fearless warriors built an empire in the 12th and 13th century and then rose to be the greatest power in the Americas before the Spaniards arrived. The Aztecs settled on several small islands in Lake Texcoco where they eventually founded the town of Tenochtitlan, modern-day Mexico City. The creation of canal system (chinampa) on marshy land around the lake is a vestige of their ingenious past. Today, their descendants - Nahuatl speakers try to recover the essence of their ancestors’ culture through philosophy, music, dances, and hand-carved musical instruments.