Located in the state of Michoacán  Mexico, this church is the only remaining building left from the village of San Juan Parangaricutiro. On February 20, 1943, a volcano began to erupt, slowly consuming two villages in lava and ash.

It took almost a year for the lava to reach and melt the rocks around this small church. The Paricutin volcano continued to erupt for another eight years, but the small church withstood it all.

Nuevo San Juan Parangaricutiro is a small village in the Mexican state of Michoacán near the Parícutin volcano. The city is called “Nuevo” because the original San Juan Parangaricutiro was destroyed during the formation of the Parícutin volcano in 1943.

Parícutin is a cinder cone volcano located in the Mexican state of Michoacán, near the city of Uruapan and about 322 kilometers west of Mexico City. The volcano surged suddenly from the cornfield of local farmer Dionisio Pulido in 1943, attracting both popular and scientific attention.