Mexico is a mysterious country. The mysterious Aztecs, representatives of the Indian tribes, began to populate this territory long before the foot of the first white man stepped there. Over the centuries, they have created a civilization with a unique culture rich in traditions and myths. Unfortunately, the arrival of Europeans in these places marked the beginning of the decline of this civilization. Along with the Aztec civilization, many myths also died. In their place, new ones were born. One of them is Puppet Island.
A bit of history
Throughout the valley, where the capital of Mexico, Mexico City, is located, an ancient network of canals, dug in once swampy areas, has been preserved. In a way, it was a kind of farming. To increase the area for growing vegetables and fruits, the Aztecs chose bottom sludge, placed it on wooden rafts and planted crops. Long channels formed on the site of the selected sludge. After some time, islands of agriculture nailed to the shore and took root there. There are still a lot of such canals with islands in these places.
One of the areas with such channels, called Sochimilco, is less than twenty kilometers from Mexico City. It is there that the island of dolls is located.
The birth of a myth
Like many other places with their own myths, this one has its own strange story. Once a little girl drowned in one of the canals. Around the same time, Don Julian Santana Barrera appeared on the island. He was a drinker, although people who knew him noted his religiosity. Information about what exactly served as the reason for his retreat was not preserved, but this is not important. Another thing is interesting. Julian suddenly became a furious collector of dolls. He found them everywhere, they were plastic and wooden, whole and not very. Bringing dolls to his island, he placed them wherever possible: he hung them on tree branches, fixed them with wire to trunks and pegs driven into the ground. Sometimes he just planted dolls in the grass by the water.
Despite the lack of money, he was able to very well organize his lonely existence, as he was engaged in fishing, cultivating the land and growing vegetables. Gradually began to exchange with other people. The subject of exchange for him, of course, were dolls. In addition, part of the toys was delivered to him by his nephew, Anastasio Santana. Dolls became part of Julian's life, as if he saw in them something more than others. Puppet Island became a home not only for him, but also for all of his many wards, which over the years became more and more.
Julian explained to his nephew that dolls are protection from evil spirits, which are very numerous in the surrounding swamps. In addition, he is constantly visited by the soul of a girl who drowned in this place. To appease her, he collects toys. She hopes that the dolls she likes will be able to occupy her and she will not do harm.
Discovery of a creepy island
Today everyone knows this place as a puppet island. Mexico has become an even more visited corner of the planet since a team of scientists, clearing the overgrown canals, found a lonely man surrounded by thousands of dolls.
As soon as the secret of the place was revealed, journalists rushed at him. And then the photo of the island of abandoned dolls in Mexico flew around the world.
Following the journalists, tourists began to visit the island.
Many of them brought dolls with them and left them to the owner of the island. And each of them had a place.
Soon, despite the distance from the main roads, Puppet Island became another point on the map of the country's attractions.
Over time, the toys occupied not only all the branches on the trees, but also began to hang on the fences, under the roof and on the walls of the huts.
The death of a strange collector
The owner of the puppet island in Mexico, by a strange twist of fate, drowned at the age of eighty. After his death, in 2001, the dolls became full owners of this island. There is a feeling that they constantly monitor visitors and monitor their actions.
Despite the fact that the flow of tourists to Puppet Island is increasing every year, there are few daredevils who want to spend the night on it. Indeed, according to legend, all dolls are associated with the souls of those who drowned in local canals and swamps. And every night they come to life. Perhaps, due to these rumors, since the death of the owner, not only did not spend the night on the island, but also did not linger on it in the dark.
Julian himself practically repeated the fate of that girl, whose spirit he had been trying to appease for a long time.
Afterword
Who knows, perhaps the soul of a drowned girl could not part with her faithful admirer and decided to call him to her? And if the legends are right, his soul found refuge in one of the many dolls on the mystical island and now watches visitors. And perhaps when another tourist takes a photo on the island of dolls in Mexico, he will capture a piece of the soul of the former owner of this strange place.
You can get to the island by taking a boat on the pier of Cuemanco. Delivery to the place and back with a walk along the canals will cost 800 pesos (about 2400 rubles).