Jewish life in the Americas stretches back to the very beginnings of European colonization, though often in hidden form. In the late 15th and 16th centuries, following the expulsions from Spain (1492) and Portugal (1497), some Sephardic Jews and conversos (Jews who had converted to Christianity, often under pressure) arrived in the New World with Spanish and Portuguese expeditions. Because open Jewish practice was forbidden under the Inquisition, these early communities remained lar
mexico city (2)
by Pamela Acosta Ruiz
Even in a hemisphere full of spots with unique appeal to visitors, Xochimilco in Mexico’s Federal District (about an hour from downtown Mexico City’s main square, the Zócalo) can claim a special place.An Aztec town dating back to the 10th century, today Xochimilco (“field of flowers” in the local Nahuatl language), it largely has the feel of a Mexico City suburb it's become, but with one major exception, for which it is justly famous: its 170-square kilometre (66-square-m
