Water Park

Chapultepec Park ( or "Bosque de Chapultepec" - Chapultepec Forest - as it is called here) is Mexico City's most important park and the largest urban park in all of Latin America.  It is divided into three sections.  The first section which contains the Anthropology Museum, the Modern Art Museum and Chapultepec Castle is the part which most tourists visit.  The third section is a largely undeveloped nature preserve and receives few visitors.  The second section does not see many foreigners, but Mexican families flock here for the Children's Museum, and the amusement park, "la Feria de Chapultepec".  

In my opinion, the overwhelming theme of this part of the park is WATER.

Let's start with this fountain which was designed by the famous painter, Diego Rivera.

In the large pool there is a reclining figure of Tlaloc, the Aztec rain god.

Here is an aerial view of the fountain which I found on the internet.

In one hand Tlaloc holds ears of corn symbolizing the crops which are made possible thanks to his rain.

Behind the fountain is a small, domed building called the "Cárcamo de Dolores".  It stands at the terminus of the Lerma Water System, an engineering project which via hydraulics and tunnels brings water over the mountains from the Lerma River to the city.  Diego Rivera was commissioned to paint murals inside the building.  (Where else but in Mexico would the city waterworks be decorated with paintings by a world-renowned artist?!)

Within the "Cárcamo"  you see the tunnel through which the water arrived at the terminus.  In the mural painting Rivera portrays the workers who constructed the tunnel.  This mural was supposed to be partially under water.  (The floor is painted with images of aquatic life.)  However, they soon realized that the water was damaging the paintings, so the water course was diverted around the building instead.

On the opposite side Rivera portrayed the engineers who planned the Lerma Water System.

The murals to each side have the theme of "Water, the Origen of Life".

Behind the "Cárcamo" are four large underground reservoirs which receive the water from the Lerma System.  Each reservoir is topped with a decorative tower which in fact a pumping station.

Encircling each of these four areas are carvings of Quetzalcoatl, the feathered serpent deity.

Water is in abundance at the Xochipilli Fountain.  The structure is inspired by Aztec architecture and art.

The fountain faces a long promenade all along which there are jets of water which spurt from the sidewalk.  The children delight in running through the water.

At each end of the promenade are larger jets of water.

Finally, as I was leaving the park, there was another fountain... actually a series of fountains all along the walkway... called the Myth of Water.  Carvings and mosaics of pre-Hispanic inspiration adorn the fountains.