Mexcaltitan

Mexcaltitan is a village on an oval island in a lagoon behind the Nayarit coast, and it is laid out like a diagram: a central plaza with church and museum, four streets radiating to the water, two concentric rings joining them, and the whole thing barely four hundred metres across. In the rainy season the lagoon rises and the lower streets flood, so residents move by canoe between doorways - hence "the Venice of Mexico," a nickname the town wears with amused patience. The deeper claim is historical: some scholars and a great deal of local conviction identify Mexcaltitan with Aztlan, the island homeland from which the Mexica set out on the migration that ended at Tenochtitlan, and the small museum lays out the codex evidence and the artefacts. Whatever the verdict, the atmosphere is singular - shrimp drying on racks in every street, pelicans on the pilings, fishermen mending nets, and a June festival of Saints Peter and Paul in which decorated boats race across the lagoon.

History

The name joins the Nahuatl mexcalli, "cooked agave", with -titlan, "among". The historian Alfredo Chavero first linked the island with Aztlán, the homeland the Mexica left on their migration, at the end of the 19th century, and the idea was taken up seriously from the 1960s, though it is still debated. The island became a Pueblo Mágico in 2001, lost the title in July 2009 and had it restored in December 2020 (Wikipedia, Mexcaltitán de Uribe).

What to look for

• The wheel plan - concentric streets around a central plaza.
• The shrimp racks - the lagoon economy drying in the sun.
• The Aztlan museum - the origin-legend case in one room.
• The boat crossing - the approach through the lagoon.

When to go

November to May for dry streets and easy roads; the rainy months bring the famous flooding and canoe traffic, but harder access. Late June for the boat-race fiesta.

Practical notes

The island is tiny - two hours covers it, and there is little to do but walk, eat shrimp and talk. Facilities are minimal, cash only. Mosquitoes take the lagoon seriously.

Nearby

Santiago Ixcuintla and its Huichol cultural centre lie on the mainland; San Blas's mangroves are an hour and a half south.