“You come here to forget your worries.” In Mexico, a volcanic crater turns into a unique football
The dormant Tijuca Volcano rises about 2,700 meters above sea level in the verdant district of Sochimilco, in the southeast of the sprawling city. About a dozen amateur league teams play in its crater on weekends.
For a football pitch to be located in a volcanic crater is highly unusual, but this is where the referee blows the kick-off whistle every weekend on the outskirts of Mexico City.
"It's a unique stadium... It's nice to come here to forget your worries and relax with friends and family," said 32-year-old Adrian Garcia, who works as a graphic designer outside the football field.
The dormant Tijuca Volcano rises about 2,700 meters above sea level, in the green Sochimilco region in the southeast of the sprawling city.
About a dozen amateur league teams play in its crater on weekends. The area was previously a ceremonial center, but after it became unfit it was converted into a football stadium.
About a dozen amateur league teams play in its crater on weekendsCLAUDIO CRUZ/AFP
League representative Joel Becerel said that the stadium is about "70 years old," adding, "They used to carry me here when I was a kid."
At dawn, a thick fog covers the football field, but it gradually withdraws with sunrise. One road reaches the summit, in addition to an 18-kilometer hiking trail that reaches the slopes of the volcano forests.
Goalkeeper Daniel Mancia Pena, 47, said: "It's amazing. It's impressive that you come here on the pitch and have such a beautiful place to play football."
According to experts from the National Autonomous University of Mexico, there are more than 200 volcanoes, most of them inactive, in southern Mexico City and on the border with the neighboring state of Morelos.
Mexico lies on the line of the world's most seismically and volcanically active region, known as the "Ring of Fire," where the Pacific Plate meets surrounding tectonic plates.
Popocatebel, one of the country's active volcanoes, is located just 70 kilometers from the capital and caused a panic in May when it spewed ash, gases and molten rock.
Source: websites