Janitzio

Janitzio rises from Lake Patzcuaro as a steep cone of white-and-red houses stacked around a single spiraling lane, crowned by a 40-metre statue of independence hero Jose Maria Morelos with his fist raised - hollow, and climbable up an interior stair whose walls carry murals of his life, ending at a lookout in the raised wrist. The island is Purepecha, and its fishermen made the lake's most photographed image: the butterfly nets, great circular dip-nets that were once working gear and now appear mainly in demonstrations for arriving launches, the boats fanning their nets in unison. Janitzio's true fame is nocturnal. On the night of November 1, the island keeps one of Mexico's most solemn Night of the Dead vigils: families carry candles, marigolds and food to the hillside cemetery and sit with their dead until dawn while bells toll and canoes cross the black water carrying more candles. Day visitors get lanes of craft stalls, whitefish restaurants and the climb; the vigil is another thing entirely, and it asks for reverence rather than cameras.

What you actually see

• The Morelos statue - climbable to the raised fist's lookout.
• The spiral lane - stalls and stairs up the island cone.
• The butterfly nets - the lake's emblematic fishing display.
• The November vigil - candlelit night at the island cemetery.

When to go

November 1 into the small hours for the vigil, booked and planned far ahead; otherwise dry-season days for the climb and the lake crossing.

Honest expectations

The climb is steep and stall-lined the whole way. On vigil night the island is crowded and cold, boats run late, and the cemetery is a place of mourning - photograph sparingly, ask first, keep quiet. Lake water quality has suffered in recent years.

Nearby

Patzcuaro's plazas and Tzintzuntzan's yacatas ring the lake; Santa Clara del Cobre lies twenty minutes south.