The church harks back to colonial times, when the Spanish friar Bartolome de las Casas showed up with a group of monks who built the Temple of Santiago, the Independent reports.
Las Casas, the first bishop of Chiapas, initially believed in subjugating the native people, but later argued for abolishing slavery and helped persuade King Charles of Spain to grant the natives their freedom, notes Latin American History.
But when conquistadors and settlers revolted, Charles reversed much of the new legislation. As for the church, it was abandoned during plagues of the 1770s, an architect says.
Re-discovered in the 20th century, he says, it contained "a large ossuary of the victims of the plague that depopulated the area." (In the US, drought is causing Lake Mead to give up a few secrets, too.)
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