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Churumuco, Mexico

The tower of Old Churumuco's San Pedro Apóstol Church rises above the water line of El Infiernillo Reservoir. The church was the center of the community, and priest and Mexican military leader José María Morelos led mass there in 1813. Although the town was abandoned during the Mexican War of Independence, residents resettled and rebuilt it starting in the 1820s. Churumuco's inhabitants once again re-established their town--this time two kilometers to the north--after El Infiernillo Dam inundated the original site in the 1960s.