🇲🇽SAN JUAN PARANGARICUTIRO

 19°37'04.32"N 102°17'07.85"W

(from Unusual Places)

   Some say it was saved by God while others affirm it was coincidence. The point is that the Sanctuary of San Juan is the only remain of a volcano eruption which affected the bustling town of San Juan Parangaricutiro. Its look is really paranormal, emerging from an ashy corner in Michoacan and being encompassed by dry bushes and nothing more. But this is not a normal Mexican version of Pompeii, as this case has a more particular story because the volcano was created just some days before it erupted.

   It all started in a local corn farm, some kilometers south of San Juan Parangaricutiro. In February 1943, a heavy earthquake gave place to some holes in the cornfield; but nobody was really preoccupied as it didn't damage infrastructures. Actually, the farmer used it as a big garbage can to throw in all the dirt or dry grain he didn't need anymore. And then came the moment when he finally noticed that something was odd, because even if he had thrown a lot of trash, the hole had always capacity for more and never filled itself (even more reusable than the supermarket's plastic bags).

   Then, some days later, the holes weren't holes anymore: they were big fissures after following some underground rumblings. Within time, the floor shook more and more and villagers started to fear that something big could happen. They were correct. 

The devastating volcano nowadays (from BBC)

One day in the field, a volcano cone rose from the fissure accompanied by much smoke; an event that made the farmer's family evacuate scared to the town and inform the others of what they had experienced. A group of brave men went on expedition and came back with a hot volcanic stone they had picked up with a handkerchief. No doubt, a volcano had been born (that's also the explanation for the missing trash, as the magma swallowed it because it was already a range with much volcanic activity).

The altar of the church also remains (from Unusual Places)

   According to inhabitants of San Juan Parangaricutiro, the last days before the eruption were like the end of the world, since the sun didn't shine and the crops were lost.  Lava streams started flowing out of the volcano without sparing anything that was on its way (except for the church), shattering San Juan Parangaricutiro and Paricutín, a little village which later would give the name to the volcano. Luckily, people weren't dumb and evacuated soon, something that lead to zero casualties.

   Nowadays, their descendants live in Angahuan (located two kilometers east of the buried town) and tell proudly stories of their grandparents to casual tourists. The authorities has also opened a trekking path which leads through all the ashes, passing by the 700-year old church and next to the volcano, where you can still see some smoke coming out. Don't worry, it's only cooling down.

Sources: BBC, Atlas Obscura, The New York Times, Colonial Mexico Blog