Templo de Quechula

The Templo de Quechula is the shell of a colonial church standing in the middle of the Malpaso reservoir, west of Copainalá and Tecpatán. It was built by Dominican friars in the second half of the 16th century, probably between the 1560s and the early 1600s, for the Zoque town of Quechula, on the old route along the Grijalva River. It is a large stone and brick church, and archaeologists consider it one of the finest religious buildings of its time in the region.

In 1966 the Nezahualcóyotl dam, better known as Malpaso, flooded the valley, and Quechula and its people were moved. The church was left underwater. In most years only the top of its walls and arches shows above the surface, but in drought years the level drops far enough for the whole building to emerge, as it did in 2015 and again in 2023, drawing visitors from across Mexico.

The usual visit is a boat ride across the reservoir from one of the docks around Malpaso, with the forested hills of the Grijalva valley all around. When the water is low enough you can step onto the land around the church and walk through its nave; when it is high you circle the arches by boat.