An aerial view shows the normally submerged colonial-era Dominican church in Quechula, Mexico, in June, 2023. The 16th-century construction emerged from reservoir waters amid a drought. Photo: Raul Vera / AFP / Getty Images
An aerial view shows the normally submerged colonial-era Dominican church in Quechula, Mexico, in June, 2023. The 16th-century construction emerged from reservoir waters amid a drought. Photo: Raul Vera / AFP / Getty Images

By Aristos Georgiou
19 June 23

(Newsweek) – A 16th-century church has emerged from the waters of a reservoir in Mexico amid a drought. The colonial-era Dominican church is located in Quechula in the southern Mexican state of Chiapas.

The building had been almost entirely submerged since 1966 when a dam was built on a tributary of the nearby Grijalva River.

For many years, tourists visited the church by boat. But now it is completely exposed, with visitors arriving at its gates in their cars and on motorcycles, AFP reported Sunday.

A lack of rain and high temperatures in the region have resulted in falling water levels at the reservoir, revealing the entire building.

“Very nice, impressive to see after so many years that the small church still exists,” José Eduardo Zea, who visited the church with a friend, told AFP.

The low water levels in the reservoir are beneficial for tourists who want to visit the church, but they are starting to have an effect on local fishermen in the area, some of whom farm tilapia.

Around five months ago “the water began to drop too much, and it has already gone beyond normal,” local tilapia farmer Darinel Gutiérrez told AFP. “What do I support my family with? Right now I have nothing.” [more]

Drowned 16th-Century Church Emerges From Bottom of Reservoir After Drought