450-year-old church emerges from water as water levels drop
Drought conditions in southern Mexico have caused water levels to fall so far that the remains of a 450-year-old, 16th-century church are now visible above the waterline.
The Temple of Santiago normally rests 100 feet below water, in the Nezahualcoyotl Reservoir that was created with the completion of a dam in 1966. But water levels have fallen so far (roughly 80 feet) in Chiapas that the church has now emerged from the depths of the river.
Adventures have jumped at the opportunity to explore the ancient ruins, with local fisherman reportedly taking tourists on tours of the church via their fishing boats.
Local Leonel Mendoza commented on the tourist interest: "The people celebrated. They came to eat, to hang out, to do business. I sold them fried fish. They did processions around the church."
The Temple of Santiago was originally build in the mid-16th century by a group of monks, but was abandoned due to a series of plagues from 1773 to 1776 and never quite reached the grandeur its creators had originally intended it to showcase. Architect Carlos Navarete elaborates: “It was a church built thinking that this could be a great population centre, but it never achieved that. It probably never even had a dedicated priest, only receiving visits from those from Tecpatan.”
Image Credit: Instagram / exploringchiapas
Image Credit: Instagram / jpsaenger29
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