So-Called Cursed Towns and the Legends Behind Them

Perched dangerously close to the smoking crater of the Popocatépetl volcano, this mountain village lives alongside a cyclical aquatic specter. During periods of severe regional drought, a local volcanic lake dries up to slowly reveal the submerged, mud-slicked stone ruins of an early predecessor settlement. Local religious tradition dictates that the rising water was a divine punishment sent to swallow a wicked community, warning current residents against committing similar moral failures.