| Located in the state of Nayarit,
Mexcalitán is a small village on an island in the middle
of a saltwater lagoon. The town is laid out like a wheel. Narrow
streets fan out from the central square, crossing a ring road.
Visitors can take a boat to the oval-shaped island,
which has a diameter of a little more than half a mile.
Streets are underwater during the rainy season, prompting
the use of boats that ferry people around. If you want to visit,
you'll need to take a wooden boat (lancha) from La Batanga, a small
wharf outside the town of Santiago Ixcuintla.
AZTECS
In the Nahuatl language Mexcalitán means 'House of the
Moon.'
Legend has it that Mexcaltitán was the original Aztec
homeland. Supposedly in the 11th century the Aztecs left and spent
two centuries of wandering until they discovered Tenochtitlán,
the present site of Mexico
City. The Aztlán del Origen Museum recounts this story.
FOOD
The main industry is shrimp farming. Restaurants offer an endless
list of shrimp plates. The most famous dish is taxtihili,
an indigenous dish of shrimp, corn dough and spices.
PUEBLO MAGICO
Mexcaltitán has received the status of 'pueblo
magico' by the Mexican government.
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