Valladolid Adventures Part 20: The spectacular murals of the Palacio Municipal

The Palacio Municipal, viewed from the southeast corner of the Parque Principal. The Palacio Municipal (Municipal Palace) has a second-floor Salon de Murales that is lined with large, colorful murals illustrating important events and phases of Valladolid's history. These include the pre-hispanic period, the colonial era, the Caste War, and the Mexican Revolution. Some of my previous postings on Valladolid have dealt with this history. The windows along the front of the second floor provide a great view of the Parque Principal and Templo San Servacio, also subjects of previous postings.

There is no entry fee for the Palacio Municipal or its Salon. On the ground floor of the Palacio is the tourist office. I always visit such offices when I go to a new town in Mexico. The staff are invariably friendly, often speak at least some English, and can provide you with maps of the town and the surrounding area. There may also be free pamphlets about local sites that may interest you. Often there are books you can buy (sometimes in English) with in-depth information and photographs of the town and surrounding area. 

Overview

The Palacio Municipal is marked on the map as the Ayuntamiento de Valladolid. This  means "City Council of Valladolid". The building is across Highway 295 (also known as Calle 40) from the southeast corner of the Parque Principal. While visiting Valladolid, we stayed at a wonderful hotel called El Mesón de Marques. It is located on the north side of the Parque Principal across Highway 180 (also known as Calle 39). For a map showing how to reach Valladolid from either Mérida or Cancun, see Part 1 of this series.

The Palacio Municipal was built in 1864, during the French Occupation (1862-67). It was constructed in a style that was popularized by the Emperor Maximillian, who had been imposed on Mexico by France. After the Occupation, French culture and architecture remained popular with Mexico's upper classes, even though the French themselves had been driven out.

The symbols on Valladolid's coat-of-arms relate to the city's long history. This emblem hangs on the wall beside the main door of the Palacio Municipal. The white bird in the center is a hawk, called a zaci in the Maya Yucatec language. Zaci was the name of a small Maya city that the Spanish conquered in 1545. They built their new city of Valladolid from materials looted from Zaci's pyramids and temples. The six castles surrounding the zaci represent the city's six colonias (neighborhoods). The red border symbolizes native blood shed during the Conquest.

The football-shaped object below the hawk is the Maya glyph symbol for zero. This celebrates their ancient discovery of the mathematical concept of zero, long before anyone in Europe ever thought of it. There are two plants under the red border. On the left is tamán (cotton), which was used by the ancient Maya for textiles. To the right are xtabentún flowers, from which a ceremonial liquor was produced. "Ciudad Heroica" (Heroic City) refers to Valladolid's roles in the Caste War that began in 1846 and the 1910 Mexican Revolution.

The Salon de Murales is on the Palacio's 2nd floor. Four large murals cover the walls along the right side of the Salon. The doors on the left side open out to the French-style balconies seen in the first photo of this posting. The muralist was Manuel Lizama (1931-2021). He produced 200 pieces of work included paintings, drawings, murals, and illustrated books. They all focused on Yucatan's culture, history and traditions. Lizama studied art at the Yucatan Center for Fine Arts and taught there for 23 years. He founded  the Art'Ho Collective and received numerous awards for his work.

Pre-Hispanic

This very complex painting is at the far right end of the series of murals. It represents the customs, beliefs and religion of the Cupul people who were the inhabitants of Zaci when the Spanish arrived. There are three parts to the mural above. I will first show the central part, then the left, and finally the right. Each of the four panels of the mural series has an explanatory sign in Spanish and English. Most Mexican murals are painted directly on a wall. These large, movable paintings don't follow that tradition. 

Chilam Balam contemplates his zastún. Chilam Balam ("Prophet Jaguar") was a legendary Maya prophet. He is said to have looked into the future and predicted the arrival of "barbarian men from the East, coming to subdue the Maya". The transparent stone in his hand is a sort of crystal ball, called a zastún. It was used to make his prophesies. Hand-written works called The Books of Chilam Balam were created by Maya scribes in the 17th and 18th centuries. They are a collection of oral traditions, histories, myths, riddles, medical recipes, and astrological predictions. Many of these date back to the pre-Conquest period. 

In front of Chilam Balam's knees is an unfolded Maya codex showing the daily activities of the Cupul people, including planting, harvesting, working with textiles, and carrying heavy loads. Emerging behind Chilam Balam on the left are two Spanish pikes and a hand holding a sword. Along with these is another hand holding a Christian cross. These suggest the imminent arrival of the Spanish conquistadors, accompanied by evangelizing friars. Their intent was to conquer the native people and suppress their religious practices and customs, all in the name of Christianity.

Kinich Ahau descends toward the fanged mouth of a sea monster. This image is on Chilam Balam's left. Kinich Ahua the Maya god of the sun, was one of the most important Maya gods. The way he is portrayed above symbolizes the downfall of the Maya culture. The sea monster represents the devouring Spanish culture. The Spanish actively worked to destroy any native beliefs or practices that might interfere with their rule. Next to the monster's tail are two of the codex panels, showing a man dropping seeds to the ground in front of his coa (digging stick) and another toting a heavy load. 

Peaceful activities and ferocious conflict are both depicted in this part of the panel. This scene is to the right of Chilam Balam. At the upper left are women sitting around the entrance of a cave beside a lovely pond. A peaceful village can be seen in the background. Two of the women are engaged in making pottery while the third cradles her child. The silhouette of Chaac, the god of rain, lightning, and thunder can be seen on the right side of the cave's arched entrance. Water gushes down from his mouth. A very peaceful scene, as far as it goes.

However, in the right foreground, a fierce battle rages between a feathered serpent and a lion. The serpent was called Kukulkan, another important Maya god. The lion represents the Spanish invaders. Kukulkan has been pushed back into a corner, much as Yucatan's Maya defenders were pushed back and eventually subdued, at least temporarily. To the left of this image is a broken Maya statue and a jumble of stones containing hieroglyphs. This represents the destruction of Maya culture by the Spanish conquistadors and Catholic friars who were intent on suppressing "devil worship".

The Conquest

Rampaging conquistadors brandish their swords. Steel weapons and armor, along with horses and firearms, gave a small number of Spaniards an advantage over much larger Maya forces. The Maya were armed with spears, arrows, and hand weapons. These were tipped with flint or obsidian and couldn't penetrate steel armor. Wood and leather shields couldn't protect against swords and bullets. Still, the Maya resisted fiercely and their sheer numbers could sometimes bring victory. In addition, unlike the Aztecs, the Maya were never a unified empire. Capturing a king or a capital city didn't bring the conflict to an end. 

The Spanish had to defeat each local Maya population, one group at a time, and they had a disconcerting habit of not staying conquered. Francisco Montejo el Mozo led the conquest of the Cupules of Zaci. In 1545 he established his new city of Valladolid on Zaci's ruins. Only a year later, the Spanish faced a serious revolt that nearly drove them out. During the following the centuries, there were numerous other rebellions. The last independent Maya kingdom of Petén Itza was not conquered until 1697. By contrast, the Aztecs had a great empire and a powerful army but were defeated in a little more than two years.

Francisco Montejo el Mozo (center), is flanked by a priest and a native warrior. The stern-looking Montejo is dressed in full armor and holds a long, two-handed sword. The nearly-naked native warrior holds a weapon in his hand. The priest looks reverently to the heavens as he holds up his cross. Above the priest's head is the royal coat-of-arms of Castille y Léon. On the far left, a soldier clutches his matchlock firearm, a weapon with a limited range and complicated to operate. However, it made a great noise, spouted fire and smoke, and caused considerable damage to those hit by its large bullets. 

The seated figure at the far right is the defeated Maya lord of Zaci. His right hand rests on a plaque with an image of the hawk for which the city was named. On the base of his throne is a human face emerging from the open mouth of a snake. This image is one that I have seen at Labna and several other Maya ruins. It represents the Vision Serpent, another powerful Maya god. The emergence of a human from a snake's mouth symbolizes rebirth and renewal, much like a snake which sheds its skin periodically. This important pre-hispanic theme was related to the cycle of planting and harvesting of maiz.

Ordinary Cupules engage in the daily activities typical of their pre-hispanic world. The woman on the left operates a back-strap loom, one of the oldest forms of weaving. The woman next to her grinds maiz with a mano and metate, a method also dating far back in time. The man next to her appears to be repairing a fishing net, while beside him another man works a piece of wood. The final man in the row uses a tump line around his forehead to support the large load on his back. While these are all extremely ancient technologies, during my travels through rural Mexico I have personally observed all of them in use. 

A dramatic scene plays out behind the row of Cupules. A native priest is attempting to use an obsidian knife to sacrifice a young woman. Two other already-dead native women lie next to her. A Spanish friar, probably a Franciscan, struggles with the native priest, attempting to stop the sacrifice. This is how the friars viewed themselves and their efforts to stop Maya barbarity and devil worship. However, the Catholic authorities engaged in a good deal of human sacrifice themselves. They burned many people at the stake for "idolatry" and operated dungeons filled with hideous torture machines, like the one at Hacienda Cochero.

The Caste War

Scene showing the ways Maya were tortured by their oppressors. Above, one man is held in stocks in a kneeling position, while another hangs by his wrists. Behind them, a third man is slowly strangled with a torture device called a garrote. These methods had been in use since at least Medieval times. The garrote was still being used as a method of execution in the early 20th century. Kneeling at the right, waiting his turn, is a young boy. Standing in the back is a tall Ladino (non-Maya Mexican) holding a paper that describes him as Procurador de Indios (Indian representative). He is unidentified and his role is ambiguous.

By the mid-19th century, hennequin was being described as "green gold". Demand was soaring for rope and twine made from its fibers. To expand production, hacendados    (hacienda owners) seized Maya lands, oppressed their workforces, and severely punished native people who raised objections. By the end of the 19th century, short of workers, hacendados were importing slaves captured in the northwest state of Sonora, after the Yaqui revolt was crushed. This was in spite of the fact that slavery had been abolished in Mexico back in 1829. All of this stoked native rage.

In 1847, the pot boiled over and the Caste War broke out. Armed mainly with machetes, insurgent Maya battled government troops. Ladino leaders in Valladolid had feared just such a revolt. They tried to nip it in the bud by arresting and executing a local Maya leader, along with large numbers of villagers they suspected of complicity. This totally backfired. The enraged Maya rose up and attacked, killing every Ladino they could lay their hands upon. The Caste War, as it came to be called, became a "no prisoners" struggle--for both sides.

The revolt started in Chemax, a few miles to the east of Valladolid. Soon the insurgents reached the Convento San Bernardino de Siena, on the outskirts of Valladolid. When the government troops there tried to surrender they were massacred. Ladinos started fleeing Valladolid  toward Mérida, Yucatan's capital, but many more were killed on the way. The Maya rebels laid siege to Mérida and the Govenor made plans to evacuate Yucatan. Then, suddenly, the Maya started to leave. It was planting season and their families would soon face starvation. The Caste War dragged on into the 20th century and finally ended in 1915.  

The Revolution

"The First Spark of the Revolution" flamed up in Valladolid. This uprising began on June 4, 1910. It pre-dated the formal beginning of the Mexican Revolution on November 20, 1910. Francisco Madero, the first revolutionary leader, is shown in the foreground, although he was not actually in Valladolid on June 4. Behind him, wearing sombreros, are several of the local leaders who were there. These include Atilano Albertos, Maximiliano R. Bonilla, and Miguel Ruz Ponce. The revolt was a reaction to an election rigged by the dictator Porfirio Diaz.  On the left, men fall dead during an execution by a government firing squad.

The rebels who ignited the First Spark were largely workers from local haciendas. They seized the city and tore up the railroad tracks leading to Mérida. Presidente Diaz sent 600 troops from Tabasco to put down the revolt. However, due to the destroyed tracks, the troops arrived exhausted. It took them four days of hard fighting to overcome the brave but badly-armed rebels. At the end, the streets of Valladolid were strewn with the dead. The rebel leaders, along with many of their followers, were quickly executed. However, their sacrifice spurred others to join the Revolution.

The completes Part 20 of my Valladolid Adventures series. I hope you have enjoyed it. If so, please leave any thoughts or questions in the Comments section below. If you leave a question, please remember to include your email address so that I can respond in a timely manner.

Hasta luego, Jim