Mexico is a mysterious country. The mysterious Aztecs, representatives of Indian tribes, began to populate this territory long before the first white man set foot 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 meant the beginning of the decline of this civilization. Along with the Aztec civilization, many myths also died. New ones were born in their place. One of them is the island of dolls.
A bit of history
Throughout the valley where the capital of Mexico, the city of Mexico City, is located, an ancient network of canals dug in the once swampy areas has survived to this day. In a way, it was a kind of farming. To increase the area for growing vegetables and fruits, the Aztecs chose bottom silt, placed it on wooden rafts and planted crops. In place of the selected silt, long channels were formed. After a while, islands of agriculture washed ashore and took root there. There are still many such channels with islands in these places.
One area with such canals, called Xochimilco, is less than twenty kilometers from Mexico City. It is there that the island of dolls is located.
Birth of a myth
Like many other places with their own myths, this one has its own strange history. Once upon a time, 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. There is no information about what exactly caused his seclusion, but this is not important. Another thing is interesting. Julian suddenly became a raging doll collector. He found them everywhere, they were plastic and wooden, whole and not very good. Bringing dolls to his island, he placed them wherever possible: he hung them on the branches of trees, fixed them with wire to trunks and pegs driven into the ground. Sometimes he just sat the dolls in the grass near the water.
Despite the lack of money, he was able to organize his lonely existence quite well, 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, some of the toys were delivered to him by his nephew, Anastasio Santana. The dolls became part of Julian's life, as if he saw something more in them than those around them. The island of dolls became a home not only for him, but also for all of his many wards, who 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, it is constantlyvisits 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 cause harm.
Spooky Island Opening
Today everyone knows this place as the island of dolls. Mexico has become an even more visited corner of the planet since a team of scientists clearing overgrown canals found a lone man surrounded by thousands of dolls.
As soon as the secret of the place was revealed, journalists rushed to it. And then photos 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, the Island of the Dolls became another point on the map of the country's attractions.
Over time, the toys took 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 island of dolls in Mexico, by a strange twist of fate, drowned at the age of eighty. After his death, in 2001, the dolls became the full owners of this island. There is a feeling that they constantly monitor visitors and control their actions.
Despite the fact that the flow of tourists to the island of dolls is increasing every year, there are few daredevils who want to spend the night on it. After allaccording to legend, all dolls are associated with the souls of those who drowned in local canals and swamps. And every night they come alive. Perhaps because of these rumors, since the death of the owner, no one has not only spent the night on the island, but has not stayed on it until dark.
Julian himself almost repeated the fate of the girl whose spirit he tried 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 has found shelter in one of the many dolls on the mystical island and is now watching the 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 from the Cuemanco pier. Delivery to the place and back with a passing walk through the canals will cost 800 pesos (about 2400 rubles).
