We conclude our posts on "drowned" churches of Mexico with a visit to La Presa Taxhimay, a shallow, artificial lake in northern Mexico State, close to the Hidalgo state line.
In the lake stand the melancholy ruins of two churches that once belonged to the submerged village of San Juan de las Peras, now relocated to San Luis Taxhimay.
After decades of regular inundation, little remains of either structure, which are more or less exposed depending on the fluctuating water level.
Of the parish church of San Luis Rey de Francia, closer to the lake shore, all that now stands is the late 16th century belltower.
The second structure, closer to the middle of the lake, is the 18th century church of El Señor del Quejido, of which only a little more survives.
This was the shrine of a miraculous local crucifix, El Señor del Quejido, whose image is carried to the lakeside every Christmas day.
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| El Señor del Quejido |
In recent times the lack of rain in Central Mexico has resulted in the seasonal drying up of the lake so that the cristo may visit his former shrine on land instead of by water.
text © Richard D. Perry
photographic images by Niccolo Brooker and Alex López
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