Valladolid Adventures Part 1: A jewel among Yucatan's treasures

Statue on the central fountain of Parque Principal Francisco Cantón Rosado. She is called "La Mestiza" (meaning mixed Spanish and Maya) and wears an embroidered huipil, the traditional garb women in Yucatan. Manuel Cachón sculpted the statue in 1924. His original work was replaced for a time by a monument to the heroes of June 4, 1910, who ignited the Mexican Revolution. Eventually, that monument was itself replaced by this replica of the original. La Mestiza's smile epitomizes the friendly, laid-back local attitude.

In Part 1 of my Valladolid Adventures series, I will do something a little different from my past practices. I intend to briefly highlight some--but not all by far--of the fascinating things to see and do in this small city in central Yucatan. Each of these places will be covered in some depth in future parts of the series. My future postings will also cover nearby places we visited on day-trips outside Valladolid. These will include Maya sites like Ek Balam, Cobá, and Muyil, and the great colonial-era monastery at Izamal. If the Yucatan Peninsula is a treasure chest of experiences, Valladolid shines as one of the brightest jewels.

Overview

Google map of our route from Mérida to Valladolid. In January of 2017, we flew into Mérida from Guadalajara, and rented a car at the airport. We stayed the night at a nearby hotel so we would be fresh for our drive the next morning. It is a pretty straight-forward route. You head south on the highway from the airport and look for signs for the Mérida Periferico and Cancun. Once on the Periferico, you travel for 19 km (11.8 mi) or 20 minutes. Turn right at the exit for Cancun, onto the autopista Highway 180. (Alternatively, you could fly into Cancun and drive from there to Valladolid, about the same distance.)

The Highway 180 autopista (high-speed toll road) should be in excellent condition. Follow 180 for about 2 hours until you come to the exit on the right for Valladolid. From the exit, drive 5.6 km (3.5 mi) south along Highway 295 to Parque Principal in the center of the city. We stayed at Hotel Mesón Marquis, which faces the Parque's north side. There are other good hotels in Valladolid, but we chose this one because it was central and within walking distance of nearly everything we wanted to see. For a Google interactive map, click here.

Parque Principal Francisco Cantón Rosado

The fountain of La Mestiza is surrounded by a circle of benches. Walkways radiate out from the path around the circle. Through the trees on the south side of the Parque, you can see the bell towers of Templo San Servacio, Valladolid's main church. Although the Parque is generally fairly serene, there was a colorful fiesta during part of our visit, with booths selling a variety of handicrafts. In the next posting of this series, I will give you a taste of this vibrant event.

The Parque Principal stands in an area once covered by a Maya pyramid that was 100 m2 (109.3 yds2). Following the usual Spanish practice, the pyramid was demolished and its materials were used to build the City Hall, mansions for the conquistadors, and an earlier version of the Templo San Servacio, . The space left by the removal of the pyramid became Plaza de Armas, so-named because that was where the colonial militia met to drill. In 1900, the plaza became Parque Principal Francisco Cantón Rosado, named for the Governor of Yucatan who donated the fences surrounding the Parque. 

Templo San Servacio

The church resembles a fortress because it occasionally functioned as one. Notice the high walls and three vertical gun slits on each tower, placed there to be used during periodic Maya revolts. Since the Maya refused to stay conquered, the Spanish buildings had to be defensible. As mentioned above, the original church was built from materials looted from the pyramid of Zaci. That was the name of the people living in the area when the Spanish arrived. After the conquistador Francisco de Montejo el Sobrino defeated them, he named his new city Valladolid, which was the name of the city that was then capital of Spain. 

As I mentioned, the church above is not the original Templo San Servacio. That structure was demolished in 1705 on the order of the bishop, Don Pedro de los Rios Reyes, "to help erase the stain" of a crime that had been committed on its premises. In a future posting, I will detail how it was that the church came to be rebuilt in its present form. Visitors to my blog may have noticed that I spend a lot of time photographing and talking about religious structures like this one. I am not a religious person myself, but I do admire the artistry and cultural significance of Mexico's colonial heritage, as well as its pre-hispanic heritage. 

Hotel Mesón de Marques

Courtyard and swimming pool of our hotel. I took this shot from the balcony just outside of our room. This hotel was one of the nicest we have stayed at during our time in Mexico. The location of the hotel was ideal for exploring the city on foot. The staff were friendly, efficient, and helpful. One of the best aspects was the restaurant, located around another courtyard, where we ate most of our breakfasts and dinners. The food was delicious, reasonably priced, and the service was excellent. A future posting will cover this very special hotel.

The Méson de Marques (Mansion of the Marquis), was built in the 17th century for a high-level member of the Spanish aristocracy. In colonial times, the most important members of the local community built their homes facing the main plaza of a city, or along streets adjacent to it. The further out you lived, the lower your social status. The indigenous people lived on the outskirts and provided the cooks, maids, gardeners, and other servants of the wealthier classes. All this didn't happen by accident. It was the result of deliberate colonial urban planning dictated by Spanish King Phillip II in the last part of the 16th century. 

Ex-Convento San Bernardino de Siena de Sisal

View of the Ex-Convento from the right. The distant figure in the center is Carole. Construction on this Franciscan ex-convento (now a museum) began in 1552 and was completed in 1560. That's quite a rapid pace for such a large structure. In fact, it is the second largest Franciscan construction in Yucatan, covering 14,121 sq meters (15,442 sq yds). Included in the complex are the church, cloister, chapel, and orchard. The ornate retablo behind the church's main altar is particularly notable. Given the size of the complex, I will probably do more than one posting on it later in this series.

For those who viewed my recent series on the Franciscan convents in the Sierra Gorda, you will recall that the Franciscans played a major role in Mexico during the so-called "Spiritual Conquest". Some of the young Franciscans who worked in the Sierra Gorda ended up in leadership positions in the Yucatan missions later in their lives. That the Yucatan's two largest conventos were both Franciscan shows the significance of the Order's role here. Ex-Convento San Bernardino de Siena is located about 7 blocks southwest of the Parque.

Cenote Zaci

Cenote Zaci is a deep, shady, water-filled pit in the limestone crust of Yucatan. The small floating objects in the water are swimmers. The figure dressed in red by the tree on the left provides a sense of scale. Cenote Zaci is open from 8:30am to 5:30pm with a modest entrance fee of 30 pesos ($1.50 USD). There are changing rooms and restrooms as well as an adjacent restaurant. Lifejackets are also available. Only a few of Yucatan's cenotes are located so conveniently within a town. This one is just 4 blocks northwest of the Parque Principal. 

Cenotes are found throughout northern Yucatan and were the main water source for the ancient Maya civilizations that developed here. Including Cenote Zaci, Valladolid has at least two cenotes within blocks of where the Zaci pyramid once stood. Most of Yucatan is a flat, porous limestone shelf. Rainwater seeps down into it to form underground pools. The crust over some of these pools eventually erodes and collapses, leaving an open pool. The meteor that struck the coast of Yucatan 60 million years ago not only killed all the dinosaurs but created a series of concentric cracks in the limestone which helped create the cenotes.

Museo Regional San Roques

Ancient Maya stucco mask. The facial features include a rounded, chubby face, thick lips and a flattened nose. These give the mask an uncanny resemblance to those on the great stone Olmec heads found in the State of Veracruz. The Olmec heads were found hundreds of miles away from Valladolid, and their civilization died out at least 1000 years before this mask was made. I therefore found the resemblance very odd. I would be open to hearing from anyone who can enlighten me about this. The mask, along with other Maya artifacts, are displayed in the Museo Regional San Roque, about 1 block east of the Parque Principal. 

The site of the museum has a long and colorful history. It was originally a 4-bed hospital, founded as Hospital del Santo Nombre de Jesus in 1575 by Valladolid Mayor Don Diego Sarmiento de Figueroa. This evolved into the Convento de San Roque and by 1645 the hospital was the best in the province. All this has long since disappeared except for the temple to San Roque. Several historical figures are buried under the museum's courtyard, including those killed in the crime that resulted in the demolishment of the Temple of San Servacio, as well as activists executed at the beginning of the Mexican Revolution.

Iglesia Santa Ana

Iglesia de Santa Ana, seen through one of the triple arches of its front gate. This small 16th century church was originally built for the Maya natives. At that time, all services except mass were conducted in their language. Santa Ana, the church's patron, is said to be the mother of the Virgin Mary. These very early colonial structures represent a world very different from today's modern, bustling Mexico. The structure still functions as a church after 500 years. I very much appreciate the effort Mexicans take to preserve their heritage. A future posting will take a closer look at the church, both inside and out.

Part of the open space in front of the church, called the atrium, later became a neighborhood park. It was in this park that Manuel Antonio Ay was hanged on June 30, 1847. He was an early leader of the Caste War (1847-1915), a great Maya revolt that nearly drove the Spanish out of Yucatan. Today the park contains a monument to Los Heroes Niños (the Child Heroes), commemorating the cadets who died fighting the U.S. forces that had invaded Mexico in 1846. Several young cadets died defending Chapultepec Castle. One of them, rather than surrender, wrapped himself in the Mexican flag and jumped off the high parapet.

Hacienda San Lorenzo & Cenote Oxmán

The casa grande of the hacienda has been transformed into a a hotel. Hacienda San Lorenzo was constructed in 1746. There is very little information available about its early history, some sources suggest that this hacienda may have grown agave for mezcal, a liquor similar to tequila. Distilling these liquors became important in the last half of the 18th century, so production soared. In addition haciendas in this area produced corn, cattle, and sugar. Sisal, a plant native to Yucatan, was also grown at many 19th century haciendas in north central Yucatan. It was used for twine to bale wheat sheaves and for rope to rig ships. 

The hacienda has the advantage of possessing the Oxmán Cenote, one of at least two within Valladolid. This was fortunate for the original hacienda owners because there are no rivers and very little above ground water in northern Yucatan. Lack of water inhibited crop production of any but drought-resistant plants like agave and sisal. The cenote here is very similar in size and shape to Zaci Cenote. Like at Zaci, you can swim here and there were several people in the water when we visited. As you can see above, the casa grande's pool was empty, so the experience of diving into the Oxmán Cenote must have been captivating.

Centro Artesanal Zaci

Detail from a mural of important figures from the time of the conquest of Zaci. The Centro Artesenal Zaci has a long hallway filled with large murals showing a variety of scenes from the history of Yucatan as well as rooms with handicrafts from the region.The central figure above is Francisco Montejo, armored and holding a sword. He was the man who initiated the conquest of Yucatan. His nephew, Francisco Montejo el Sobrino, founded Valladolid. Standing to the right of Montejo is the leader of the Zaci people. The seated Maya figure is a shaman or Maya priest. His counterpart, to the left of Montejo, is a Spanish priest who holds a cross aloft. The theme of the mural is the imposition of the new culture. 

The building stands just to the west of Hotel Mesón de Marques. It was once a the mansion of a conquistador, but it later became part of the Casa Cural (parsonage or priest's house). Refurbished in the 19th century, the building housed the Model Central School in 1906 and the Military Exercises Professorship in 1908. The Bolio family owned the property as a private home for a time, but in 1940 it again became a school named after local luminary Delio Moreno Cartón. In 2007, the school was moved and the Valladolid Administration opened the Centro Artesenal Zaci.

Casa de los Venados

"Hi! What's up? Come on in and relax!" A scary skeleton, with a somewhat off-putting expression, greeted us when we arrived at Casa de los Venados (House of the Deer). This is the home of Mr. and Mrs. John Venator, who own Mexico's largest private collection of folk art. Over 35 years, they gathered more than 3000 items, including some of the most extraordinary I have yet encountered. After we made the expected donation of $100 pesos ($5.00 USD), our Mexican guide Freddy showed us around the place. Neither the Venators nor Freddy had any problem with the considerable number of photos I took. 

John Venator retired to Yucatan after a career as a CEO of an international trade organization in Chicago. He and his wife looked at various places in both Mérida and Valladolid before buying this 18,000 square foot property. It has become both their home and their private museum. The house was largely in ruins when they purchased it, but they remodeled it over 8 years, first for vacations, then as their retirement home. Casa de los Venados is 1/2 block south of the Parque Principal. They share it with a small terrier who loves to sit on John's lap. Whatever else you decide to see in Valladolid, don't miss a visit to this place!

This completes Part 1 of my Valladolid Adventures series. In Part 2, I will show you around the Parque Principal and the colorful fiesta we encountered there. I hope you enjoyed this first part. If so, please leave any thoughts or questions in the Comments section below or email me directly. If you leave a comment, please remember to include your email address so that I can respond in a timely manner.

Hasta luego, Jim