Paricutín Volcano and San Juan Parangaricutiro

Paricutín is one of only a handful of volcanoes in recorded history that humans have witnessed being born. It erupted from a flat cornfield in February 1943 and continued to erupt for nine years, eventually burying two villages and creating a new mountain 424 metres above the surrounding plain. Today it is dormant, and the journey from Uruapan to the site is one of the most memorable day trips in Mexico.

The route goes through the town of Angahuan (about 30 km from Uruapan), a Purépecha village where local guides and horses are available for hire. The ride across the lava field to the buried church of San Juan Parangaricutiro takes roughly two hours each way; the church tower poking from a grey sea of solidified lava is one of those sights that stays with you. Hardier visitors can continue further to climb the volcano itself — a longer and more demanding undertaking requiring a full day. Back in Angahuan, the wooden church has remarkable carved Purépecha decorations, and the views from the village over the lava field to the volcano are striking.

things to do sight
A story
On February 20, 1943, farmer Dionisio Pulido was working his cornfield when the ground began to crack, hiss, and then erupt. Within a week the cone stood 150 metres high; within a year, over 400 metres. The entire village of San Juan Parangaricutiro was buried under lava, and all 700 inhabitants were evacuated — but the stone church tower was too massive to be submerged, and it still protrudes from the hardened lava field like a monument to the volcano's indifference.