Case file · Folklore / legend
Don Goyo awakens: Popocatépetl, 1994
When Popocatépetl came back to life on 21 December 1994, villagers on its slopes spoke of 'Don Goyo' (Gregorio), the volcano's spirit, said to appear as an old man to warn of eruptions.
1994 CE · 19.02, -98.62 · status: account
The account
Graniceros or tiemperos, ritual specialists who control hail and rain, take offerings to shrines on the volcano each year, especially on 12 March, the feast of St Gregory. Ethnographers such as Julio Glockner have documented the cult.