Case file · Apparition / miracle
The Talking Cross of Chan Santa Cruz
In 1850, during the Caste War of Yucatán, a cross carved on a tree beside a cenote began 'speaking' to Maya rebels and urging them to fight on; around it grew the Maya theocratic state of Chan Santa Cruz.
1850 CE · 19.58, -88.05 · status: account
The account
José María Barrera and a ventriloquist, Manuel Nahuat, are said to have given the cross its voice at first; later its messages came as letters. The Cruzoob held out until Mexican troops took the town (today Felipe Carrillo Puerto) in 1901, and the cross cult continues.