Island Of Dolls
La Isla de las Muñecas – The Island of Dolls
As if collecting dolls wasn’t creepy enough on its own, is nice to know that someone somewhere actually started hanging them from trees. This happened on an island outside of Mexico City, deep in the canals of Xochimilco, and it seems to be haunted by the spirit of a little girl.
This island is home to thousands of creepy looking dolls hanging from trees, which thanks to the effect of time, sun and rain, are now missing arms and legs, eyes or heads as wholes. As one might imagine, the dolls’ filthy and rustic look gives the island a unique charm.
So, the question that each and every one of you is probably wondering about right now: how did these dolls get there?
Well, the island is completely deserted, apart from the dolls and a few curious travellers looking for a thrill, but it was once inhabited by a man that went by the name Don Julian.
In the 1950s Don Julian left his wife and family to go live on the island alone. It seems, in fact, that with time the man had begun to turn to alcoholism and collect unwanted dolls, who he thought could get rid of evil spirits. Finally, he was pushed to total isolation.
For his new life, he chose an uninhabited island in Teshuilo Lake, which was, according to the legend, inhabited by the ghost of a little girl who had drowned near the small pier in the 1920s.
After hearing the whispers of the child’s voice at night, Don Julian thought he could bring peace to the spirit and avoid painful consequences by hanging his precious dolls around the island.
Once the locals realized that the man was, yes, a bit coo-coo, but a half-decent farmer, they started trading with him. He gave them fruits and vegetables, they gave him the one and only thing he cared about: his precious dolls.
The dolls turned from hundreds to thousands and Julian also erected many shrines on the island as a memorial to the drowned girl. The Island of Dolls was born.
In 2001, after 50 years spent on the island, Julian’s nephew Anastasio came to visit him and help him plant some pumpkins. One morning, the two went fishing together on the canal and Julian began to sing, explaining that that was the only way to keep the mermaids from drowning him.
The nephew convinced that his uncle was as crazy as it can get, left him to go plant the pumpkins, but one hour later, on his return, he found Julian in the canal, face down, drowned in the exact same place where the young girl had also died.
Even if the cause of death was identified as being a heart attack, many still think that his death was supernatural and that Julian is now living on the island with the girl and their dolls.
The island can be visited, but it’s not a tourist spot, which means that to visit it you would have to hire someone to bring you there personally and not many people are willing to do so. Even today, those courageous souls who venture in the island, bring dolls to honour the girl and Don Julian.
Would you dare to go??
Author Letizia