Low water levels in a reservoir in Chiapas, Mexico, have slowly revealed the ruins of the 16th century Temple of Santiago.
Also known as the Temple of Quechula, the church is near the town of Nueva Quechula. It was submerged in 1966, when the Nezahualcoyotl dam was built.
The church was built by Dominican friars, who arrived in the region in the mid-16th century. They guessed the area would eventually become a population center, but that never came to pass, the Associated Press reported.
It was abandoned in the late 1700s, when plagues came to the region. The 183-foot by 42-foot church — with its 48-foot tall bell tower — eventually began to crumble.
With the completion of the dam in 1966, water completely obscured the church ruins. But this year, a drought caused the water levels to drop 82 feet.
It was only the second time ever the water has dropped low enough for the church to reemerge. In 2002, the water fell so low visitors could walk inside the ruins.
Before it was abandoned, the church also served as a final resting place for many of its parishioners. A government report noted that the church included a large ossuary — a housing for the remains of the victims of the plagues.
