Iglesia del Honguito

The image Jesus Christ, Our Lord and Savior has appeared to countless people in an almost endless variety of ways ranging from whorls on trees to burn marks on toast. The Iglesia del Honguito in Chignahuapan, Mexico was built to honor such a miraculous vision, this time taking the form of a holy mushroom.  

As the legend goes, the miracle fungus was found in 1880 by a peasant who was searching for mushrooms to eat. Instead of finding a dinner, the peasant found a little shroom with bruises on its crown that looked (sort of) like the Son of God on the cross. The magic mushroom was such a sensation in the city that they built the Iglesia del Honguito (Church of the Tree Ear) on the site where the fungus was found.

The little chapel stands to this day and still displays the now-petrified holy mushroom. Officially it is known as Our Lady of the Sacred Heart of Jesus thanks to the more recent statue of Jesus holding a sacred heart that was installed outside the chapel, but most still only know it as the mushroom church. Visitors can enter the church and take a peek a supposedly Heaven-sent fungus. There is even a little magnifying glass next to the relic in case anyone has trouble finding the religious significance of the artifact.

A festival is held each year on July 24th to honor the mushroom and processions of horses take to the streets to thank the lord for the weird vision.