Valladolid Adventures Part 11: Convento de San Bernardino de Siena's remarkable 17th century water system.

The noria was built 400 years ago to supply water to the Convento. In Spanish, noria translates as "waterwheel". The word originated from an Arabic verb meaning "to groan". This is a reference to the sound a noria made when operating. The waterwheel mechanism once contained in the structure above is long gone. The term noria is used today to refer to the structure which housed it.  

When it was built, this was the second largest noria in Yucatan. The only one larger was located in the pueblo of Mamá. In its time, this noria was considered a marvel of 17th century hydraulic engineering. In Part 11 of this series, I will show you the exterior and interior of the noria and explain how it worked. In addition I'll describe the Cenote Ziis-Há, quoting from the accounts of people who visited over the centuries. 

Overview

Schematic showing the location of the noria within the Convento complex. The circular structure is located just east of the north end of the complex. It is 14m (46ft) in diameter.  The large oval outlines surrounding the noria indicate the perimeter of the Cenote Ziis-Há. This water-filled sink hole is entirely underground, except for four openings, one of which is under the noria. On the west side of the cenote's perimeter, you can see a short thick line and a square dot. These represent the ruins of the Convento's old kitchen. 

In 1584, a high official in the Franciscan Order named Alonso Ponce noted that the cenote was "very deep and wide" and that "growing in it are many small but very tasty bagre  (catfish)." Evidently, he had spent some time at the dining table of the Convento's refectory. A century later, in 1688, a Franciscan friar named Diego López de Cogolludo published his Historía de Yucatan. In it, he includes a description of the cenote. "The space occupied by the water underneath is rather vast, some say as big as two blocks of houses." For more about Yucatan's cenotes, see Part 8. 

Ruins of the kitchen. In the diagram, the short thick line represents the wall on the right side of the arched doorway. The dot is the section of the wall on the doorway's left side. The noria structure can be seen on the far right. In Part 10, I described the bountiful orchard and vegetable garden that was watered by the noria. No doubt Alonso Ponce also enjoyed access to all those fruits and vegetables during his visit. 

In addition, the Convento raised cattle, which could consume as much as 20 gallons of water each day. The cattle were both for sale and to provide meat for the friars' table. So, with their access to beef, catfish, and a wide variety of fruits and vegetables, the friars certainly ate well, despite their vows of poverty. 

The Noria

Carved into the limestone wall is the date 1613. Above the date is the word Año, which means "year". 1613 was when the structure was completed. A visitor named Antonio de Ciudad Real mentioned an earlier noria when he visited in 1588. He wrote about "water that comes from the noria, which is almost next to the convent wall and is built on a very large cenote..." However, the original noria was probably a much smaller and more primitive version. That one eventually proved inadequate, leading to its replacement in the early 17th century. 

View of the east side of the noria. Using a wheel to move water is a very old technology. Ancient texts from Mesopotamia mention using waterwheels for irrigation. In the 3rd and 4th centuries BC, the technology spread through trade networks to India, Rome, Greece, and Egypt. During Europe's Dark Ages, Muslim engineers in Spain and the Middle East made various improvements to the ancient device. By the 9th century AD, Christian monasteries in Europe had begun using norias to free up the time of monks for contemplation and study. 

After the discovery of the New World in 1492, norias began appearing in Spanish settlements in the Caribbean. Yucatan's conquest in the mid-1540s led to waterwheels being used to draw water from the cenotes. Franciscan monasteries were among the first to do this. Immediately following the establishment of the Convento de San Bernardino de Siena in 1552, water was probably still pulled up by hand at first. Sometime prior to 1588, the friars installed their first noria, eventually replacing it in 1613 with the structure seen above.

Artist's depiction of one of Yucatan's norias*. The mechanism at the Convento would have been similar in design, but much larger. The vertical wheel has several buckets which are secured to the wheel by ropes. They scoop up water from the cenote as the wheel revolves and, when a bucket reaches the top of the cycle, its water empties into a trough below. From there, using channels and pipes, it is directed to where it can be collected. 

The waterwheel is geared to a horizontal wheel, which is powered by a burro walking around the 44m circumference of the structure. This explains the circular form of the early animal- driven norias. The mechanism was originally constructed using wood, rope, and ceramic buckets. Eventually, metal buckets replaced the ceramic ones and metal brackets replaced the ropes. The two main drawbacks to the noria were spillage when the water drops from the bucket to the trough and friction when the water is scooped up. Neither of those problems prevented norias from being used well into the 20th century.

*From "La Noria, a Hydrologic Technology of Yucatan", by Nina S. Williams, New Mexico State University, Dec. 2013

Detail of the massive limestone structure. The metal fence is a modern safety device. The walls and buttresses show building practices typical of the early 17th century. These include the use of rough, un-cut stone, held together with mortar. Shaped stone blocks and clay bricks did not come into regular use until later. 

A steady water supply for human consumption was not the noria's only purpose. Readily available water also enabled food preparation, regular cleaning of the Convento, and water for the orchard and cattle. 

An animal-driven noria required only a single worker, instead of large teams of Mayas toting clay pots. The noria worker's only job was to make sure the burro kept moving, a task even a child could do. This labor-saving advantage was important because plagues reduced the native workforce by almost 90% during the 16th and 17th centuries. 

Water from the cenote fills a channel along the side of the noria. The Maya were no doubt impressed by this labor-saving mechanical marvel. However, there is more to the story than that. The Maya had always lived near cenotes as a matter of survival, since there are no other sources of water in northern Yucatan. 

The Franciscan friars pursued a strategy called congregación as a key part of the "Spiritual Conquest".  Native populations were persuaded, and if necessary forced, to "congregate" in large villages where they could be evangelized and Catholic religious observance could be enforced.

The root of the noria is supported by several massive arches. The original vigas (rafters), were made of tree branches. They can still be seen supporting the ceiling. As noted, the machinery of the noria has long since been removed. What is left inside is a large open area with a grate covering the opening to the cenote where the waterwheel once sat. There are six large arched windows around the walls that provide light and air.

The Spanish authorities saw that control of key cenotes would not only ensure their own water access, but would enable them to control the native population and make it easier to congregate them. The Spanish said this was in the interests of spreading Christianity and the benefits of Spanish culture. Many of the Maya did not see it the same way. 

View through one of the arched windows.  The building in the left background is the north wall of the cloister. The wall just beyond the palm was part of the ruined kitchen. 

The Maya had freely used the cenotes for millennia and resented Spanish attempts to control them. In addition, the cenotes were important to their ancestral religion. Resentment increased when the friars began to destroy Maya religious shrines and burn their ancient hieroglyphic libraries. Even more tension resulted from Spanish seizures of traditional Maya lands to build haciendas and to impose forced labor under the encomienda system.

Ruins of an unknown structure. This may have been part of the kitchen. Some of the trees around this old ruin were probably part of the original orchard, planted by the friars back in the 16th century. Several geese can be seen near the base of this structure.

Under the encomienda system, the Spanish King granted Spaniards the right to demand tribute, including forced labor, from the inhabitants of native villages. This was in return for Christian instruction and military protection. It was a good deal, as long as you were on the right end of it. Most early colonial religious structures were built under the encomienda system, including the noria at Convento de San Bernardino de Siena.

A peacock wandered by as I was photographing the noria. Like the turkey seen in the previous posting, this fellow roamed around freely. He seemed curious about me and tagged along as I took my photos. Peacocks originated in the subcontinent of India and did not arrive in Mexico until they were brought by the Spanish in the 16th century.

This completes Part 11 of my Valladolid Adventures series. I hope you have enjoyed it. If so, please leave any thoughts or questions in the Comments section below or email me directly. If you leave a question, please include your email address so that I can respond in a timely manner.

Hasta luego, Jim