Institute for the Study of the Americas

Yucatán History

The Yucatán Peninsula has captivated travelers since the early Spanish explorations. Explorers and conquistadores met with more resistance there than in almost any other part of the New World, and this rebellious spirit continued for centuries. Fransisco de Montejo's military incursion of Yucatán took three gruesome wars, a total of 24 years. "Nowhere in all America was resistance to the Spanish conquest so more obstinate or more nearly successful," wrote the historian Henry Parks. Some committed suicide rather than commit, while others fled into remote areas to hold against the Spaniards for over 100 years after the country was subjugated. In fact, the Maya were responsible for the deaths of more Spaniards than any other native community in the Americas-more than during the conquest of the Aztecs and the Incas combined. Learn more.

A church in the Yucatan.

Merida

The foremost city of Yucatán is its capital, Merida. There is a marvelous eccentricity about Mérida, often referred to as "la cuidad blanca" or "white city". The city has a self-sufficient, self-contained air that would suggest a small town more than a state capital of some 600.000 inhabitants. However, traffic from both cars and pedestrians shows that Merida is bustling with activity. Gaily pretentious turn of-the-century buildings have an Iberian-Moorish flair for the ornate, yet most of the architecture is low-lying, so although the city sprawls, it is not imposing. Grandiose colonial facades, adorned with iron grillwork, carved wooden doors, and archways conceal marble tiles and lush gardens; horse-drawn carriages hark back to the city's heydays as the wealthiest capital in Mexico. The city is full of subtle contrasts, from its opulent yet faded facades, very Spanish yet very Mayan. As you walk Merida's streets you hear almost as much Mayan spoken as Spanish. Visits to the large market, the town square or plaza as it is called and the Paseo Montejo are a must for anyone visiting for the first time.

Valladolid

Valladolid rests almost in the center of the Yucatán Peninsula. It is a colonial town with a population of about 70,000. The elegant colonial walls of Valladolid have seen much in their long history. Montejo the Younger and his cousin, Montejo, El Sobrino, overcame truculent Maya resistance to conquer the ancient city of Zací early in 1543. On the site of Zací, on May 28 of that year, the Montejos founded Valladolid, whose colonial coat of arms features a white hawk image and the prophetic slogan, "Heroic City." In the middle of sugar cane and cattle country, but isolated by distance from Mérida, Valladolid matured into relative autonomy and it remained the most "Colonial" of the peninsula's larger cities - more conservative and perhaps more proudly aristocratic than Mérida itself.

Its hubris completely shattered in January 1847, when a Yucatecan secessionist army, using armed Maya soldiers in its ranks, attacked the garrison of Mexican loyalist. A slaughter of non-Indian civilians resulted. Several months later, an informer named a young Maya, Antonio Ay, in a plot for a new revolution to reduce taxes on the Indian population. To set a stern example and to avenge the January atrocities, a firing squad shot young Ay against the Santa Ana chapel on July 26, 1847. If they were looking to curb Maya passions by executing its alleged leader, they were dead wrong. Antonio Ay's death was the catalyst that began the bloody Caste War, with Valladolid in the heart of it. By mid-March 1848, a vicious slaughter of Vallísoletaños occurred and surviving residents fought their way out of the city towards Temax, fleeing the ruthless Maya advance.

It is set around a large plaza, flanked by the imposing Franciscan cathedral. Most of the hotels are clustered around the centre, as well as numerous restaurants catering for all budgets, favoring the lower end. There is a slightly medieval feel to the city, with some of the streets tapering off into mud tracks. The location makes it an ideal place to settle for a few days, while exploring the ruins of Chichén Itzá, the fishing village of Río Lagartos on the north coast, and the three beautiful cenotes in the area.

Santa Elena

Santa Elena, whose municipality encompasses Kabah and Uxmal, boasts a population of about 2,500 inhabitants. It is located on the southern slope of the Puuc region, which is the only part of Yucatan with hills. The inhabitants of Santa Elena conserve ancestral knowledge and traditions and still refer to their town by the ancient name of Noh cacab. In the town square or kiwik there is a giant ceiba tree, which is the tree considered sacred to the ancient and modern Maya. High on a hill, near the kiwik, is the enormous Colonial church of San Mateo, built in the 19 th century. A town legend mentions a subterranean path with access located at the flank of the church. When excavating the interior of the temple, human remains were located and are now housed in the Casa de la Cultural in Santa Elena, which is adjacent to the church.

Most of the population are farmers who cultivate and harvest great amounts of maize and other vegetables in their milpas. Ancient medicinal practices, celebrations of the old agricultural calendar, and artistic traditions are still common in some households of old Noh cacab.

Santa Elena's church is a treasure house of late colonial Yucatecan folk art. In addition to the fine late Baroque altarpieces, now under restoration, an ornamental stucco wall retablo and several examples of rustic Colonial furniture survive in the sacristy, The church is also home to an interesting collection of wooden diptychs or processional "box" retablos. These are cupboard-like portable altars, some with doors, housing crucifixes and local santos. All are decorated in colorful folkloric style and although none are dated, they were most likely fabricated in the early 1800s.