The Island of the Dolls
On a tiny island in Mexico City's canals, thousands of weathered dolls hang from the trees.
What was reported
La Isla de las Muñecas is a small island in the canals of Xochimilco, in southern Mexico City. For decades its caretaker, Don Julián Santana Barrera, hung dolls from its trees, fences and huts, many of them faded and broken by sun and rain.
He said he began after finding a girl who had drowned in the canal nearby, and then a doll floating in the water, which he hung up to honour her spirit. He kept collecting dolls for around 50 years.
Explanations offered
Whether the drowned girl existed has never been confirmed, and the story may have grown in the telling. Don Julián died in 2001. The island is now a tourist attraction, reached by the colourful canal boats called trajineras.
- When
- Dolls hung from the 1950s
- Where
- Xochimilco, Mexico City, Mexico
- Witnesses
- Its caretaker, and visitors by boat
- Status
- Legend
Famous cases are real, widely reported events. Each file sets out what witnesses said and the explanations that have been offered, without taking a side.