Picture this: rows upon rows of human skulls stacked neatly on wooden racks, bleached by the sun, staring out into the sacred courtyards of ancient Tenochtitlan. This isn’t a scene from a horror movie — it’s history. Meet the Tzompantli, one of the most chilling and misunderstood relics of Aztec civilization.

Imagine standing at the edge of a vast, shifting sea of sand. The air is thick with salt, the wind tugs at your jacket, and then—rising like a mirage out of the misty tideflats—you see it: a medieval island crowned with a dramatic abbey that seems almost too magical to be real.