Volcan Paricutin was born in 1943 with a series of explosions in the middle of a farmer's cornfield. The volcano continued to erupt for almost a decade, building a cone over 400 meters high and inundating two nearby towns with lava. Today, the lone steeple of the half-buried Church of San Juan Parangaricutiro rises above barren lava fields as an eerie monument to the village entombed below.
Travelers hike to this surreal landscape from the Tarascan community of Angahuan, which was spared by the volcano. The inhabitants of Angahuan still speak Purepecha, the ancient language of their ancestors, and many of the men work as guides. Angahuan is a rustic town with a 16th-century church known for the unusual Moorish designs surrounding its entrance.
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Paricutin Volcano, Mexico - Images by John Mitchell
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