Valladolid Adventures Part 22 of 22: The Zaci Cenote, San Roque Museum, and random scenes around town

Cenote Zaci is a cool and inviting refuge on a hot Yucatan day. It was named for the ancient Maya city that Valladolid replaced when the Spanish arrived. Cenote Zaci is located on Calle 37, between Calles 34 and 36. It is about 3.5 blocks northeast of the Parque Principal Francisco Cantón Rosado, often simply called the Parque Principal. Stalactites and roots hang from the sides of the cenote. Some roots extend down all the way to the water. The cenote is 45m (147ft) in diameter and 40m (130ft) deep from the lip to the water's surface. In the deepest part, the water's bottom is 100m (326ft) below the surface. 

Part 22 will be my last posting on the city of Valladolid itself. We had additional adventures during day trips out of Valladolid to visit the huge convento in Izamal and the ancient ruins of Cobá and Muyil. Series on each of those will follow this one. To include them in this series would have made it dauntingly long. In this last Valladolid posting, I will cover some of the sites and scenes that didn't really fit in any of my other postings on the city. For information about how to reach Valladolid from Mérida or Cancun, see Part 1 of this series.

Two European girls enjoy the cool, clear cenote water. A cascade of droplets falls down from a spring in the limestone walls above. There is a fee for swimming and life jackets are available. Wearing sunblock while swimming is forbidden in order to preserve the water's purity. We didn't swim, but just enjoyed a good meal at the restaurant that overlooks the cenote. The two girls above appeared to be from northern Europe. They displayed the casualness about nudity of those societies when they changed from swimwear to street clothes on the lip of the cenote, oblivious to the nearby diners in the restaurant.

A cenote is a limestone sinkhole that forms when the ceiling above an underground river collapses. There are approximately 10,000 in the Yucatan Peninsula and about 150 of them are open to visitors. Cave divers have explored some of the passages connecting cenotes but this is extremely dangerous. It should only be attempted by fully equipped experts (with paid-up life insurance). Cenote Zaci is only a few blocks from the Plaza Principal where Zaci's main pyramid once stood. The cenote was once the primary water source for the ancient city,  For more information about cenotes, see Part 8 of this series.

Museo San Roque

A Maya warrior's face peers out from the jaws of his jaguar helmet. Such headgear was worn by members of the Jaguar Warriors, one of the most important military cults in the pre-hispanic Maya world. There was no sign by the limestone bust, so I couldn't determine precisely where it came from. However, it is most likely an artifact of either Zaci or Ek Balam. The Jaguar Warriors, along with the Eagle Warriors and other lesser military cults, emerged during the era of chaos and conflict that followed the fall of the Classic-era Teotihuacán Empire around 650 AD.  

This period, called the Epi-Classic, was a time when many small, militarized states arose, often fighting fiercely over control of trade routes. The Epi-Classic ended around 1000 AD with the rise of the Spartan-like Toltecs. Their empire marked the beginning of the Post-Classic era. The Toltecs elevated the Jaguar and Eagle Warrior cults to the pinnacle of their highly militarized society. Either through conquest or through indirect cultural influence, Toltec-style military cults began to appear in Yucatan's Maya civilizations. This can be seen most clearly at Chichen Itza, a close neighbor of both Ek Balam and Zaci.

Stucco profile of fierce bird, possibly an eagle. Again there was no sign in the museum about this object's origin or purpose, but it is probably an almena (merlon in English). This was an  architectural feature placed along the flat roofline of a pre-hispanic temple or elite residence. Unlike European merlons, which were part of the defensive structure of castles, the pre-hispanic almenas were purely decorative. They carried symbolic meanings when attached to temples. When they were part of a residential structure, they proclaimed the owner's status. This one may have decorated an Eagle Warrior's house.

Museo San Roque is located about one block to the east of the Parque Principal on Calle 41 (Highway 180) which runs along the south side of the Parque. The museum's structure was originally built in 1575 to house the Hospital del Santo Nombre de Jesus. Eventually, the 4-bed hospital was taken over and operated by the Convento San Roque. By 1645, it was renowned as the best hospital in the province. 

A lovely bowl with incised decorations is supported by three legs. The side of the bowl contains a series of incised abstract designs, with a series of scallops along the bottom. The three legs are a reference to the three stones that form the traditional Maya hearth. Those hearth stones, in turn, represent the ones that the gods placed in a triangular formation at the beginning of the world. In doing so, they created a cosmic hearth. This became the center, foundation, and source of the universe by lifting up the earth from the seas so that a place could be created for humanity.

The original structures of Convento San Roque have long-since disappeared, except for the building that was its templo. The templo's atrium is known as Parque los Heroes (Park of the Heros). In it are the graves of the two men murdered in 1703 at the Templo San Servacio. Other graves contain Maya rebels who were executed after a battle in Valladolid known locally as "The First Spark of the Mexican Revolution". After it ceased being used as a religious structure, the templo became the city's first electrical plant. Later, in 1998, it was transformed into the Museo San Roque.

This painted bowl contains various pieces of ancient jewelry. Close examination reveals faint painted designs on the interior of the bowl. In it are an assortment of jewelry, including shells, a square jade ear spool, clay beads, a small red head, bits of bone, and other fragments. The ancient Maya created attractive jewelry from whatever natural materials were at hand. Sometimes jewelry was crafted by artisans for local elites. Other jewelry was created for trade and might be transported for great distances. In fact, the ear spool may have originated in the Guatemala's Valle Motagua, the source of most of Yucatan's jade.

Trade routes were crucial to pre-hispanic civilizations. As noted previously, control of them was important enough to provoke wars. Trade was very active among the Maya city-states in the Yucatan Peninsula and Central America. It  was also conducted with the civilizations on the Gulf Coast and Central and Western Mexico. But it didn't end there. Sea-going canoes traveled up the Caribbean Coast from South America and goods might arrive from as far away as the Southwest of today's United States.

Rambling around Valladolid

A cheerfully grinning skeleton sits in a chair along one of Valladolid's streets. I have always enjoyed the quirky Mexican sense of humor. I don't recall the location where we encountered this jolly fellow, but he certainly deserved a quick photo. We visited Valladolid in January, more than two months after the annual November 2 fiesta known as Dia de los Muertos (the Day of the Dead). Consequently, his presence probably had nothing to do with that fiesta. He was simply there, with his toothy smile, watching the passersby while enjoying another sunny day in Yucatan.

Tequilleria Poncho Villa is a cantina near the Plaza Principal. It is about 1.5 blocks west of the Plaza on Calle 41 (Highway 180), in the opposite direction from Museo San Roque. The cantina is open from 9 AM to 8 PM daily, except for Sunday, when it closes at 6:30. I'm not sure I would want to be knocking back shots of tequila at 9 AM, but this is Mexico. Framing the entrance are two huge bottles of Tequila Correlejo. 

The tequila's name jogged my memory. When I Googled it, I discovered that this brand is made by a company operating at Hacienda Correlejo in Guanajuato. The hacienda was founded in 1566 and was the birth place of Padre Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla. He was the insurgent leader who launched Mexico's Independencia (War of Independence) in 1810. During a Hacienda Hunt in 2023, we visited that area and drove by the very distillery where this tequila was made. It is obviously a popular brand to be served here, so far away.

 

Restaurant Los Portales is a popular dining spot. It is located across from the southeast corner of Plaza Principal where Calles 41 and 40 intersect. Templo San Servacio occupies the far end of this block. The restaurant serves Yucateca meals, which tend to be less spicy than elsewhere in Mexico, but still very tasty. The restaurant gets its name from the arched portales that line the street side of the arcade.

Workers restore a building to something approaching its original glory. Mexico works hard to preserve its rich architectural heritage and has preserved a large number of its old colonial structures. People everywhere take great pride in the appearance of their historic Centros (areas around a town's plaza). This has brought great economic benefits as tourists flock to enjoy these places. Valladolid, is part of the Pueblo Magico (Magic Pueblo) program, which promotes this kind of restoration. 

And, of course, there are the ubiquitous Mexican dogs. What would Mexico be without its innumerable canines? They are everywhere, usually snoozing peacefully like this pair. Almost always relaxed and friendly, they are also usually dirty and require a hand-washing if you decide to pet them. They generally wander freely and have much more "street smarts" than dogs north of the border, who are usually penned up or restrained by leashes. 

The lack of restraint also means that Mexican dogs don't feel anxious around other dogs because they can socialize or withdraw at will. Consequently, I have rarely seen a serious dogfight. They often decide to sleep in the middle of a sidewalk and people just step around them without the snoozing pooches even bothering to raise an eyelid.

Night scenes around the Parque Principal

View from the balcony near our hotel room. The spires of Templo San Servacio glow in the distance. I took this shot on my way out for an evening stroll in the Centro area. Some folks are probably thinking "Are you nuts? Walking around at night in a Mexican city? Won't you immediately get mugged or kidnapped by cartel members?" Some cities in Mexico have areas that I certainly wouldn't chose for a nighttime stroll. But then, so do cities north of the border. Most places where I have lived or visited during my nearly two decades of life here have been perfectly safe, assuming normal judgement and good sense.

Valladolid's Centro is full of nightlife. People abound, including young lovers, families with children, and others just out to enjoy the scene. People are friendly and a buenas noches (good evening) is nearly always met with a smile and a warm buenas noches in return. Sometimes the person will ask where I am from and strike up a conversation. Many times, I will meet people who have relatives in the U.S. or have lived there for a time themselves. Occasionally I have encountered people who have lived near one of my former U.S. homes.

Templo San Servacio from the Plaza Principal. I like the way Mexican cities, particularly the Pueblos Magicos, light up their great architectural monuments at night. This makes them seem even more impressive than during the day. The front entrance of the church is open, which is not unusual. There were probably a few of the faithful scattered among the pews, praying or quietly enjoying the beautiful interior. 

Old structures like this provide me with a deep sense of connection to past ages. I rarely experienced this while living in the U.S. It is still a young country compared to Mexico and has had an unfortunate a tendency to bulldoze its architectural heritage. As the old Joni Mitchell song goes, "pave paradise and put up a parking lot". 

This set of arcades lined with portales is called Bazar Municipal. The food served in the small restaurants here includes tacos, pizza, sandwiches, Chinese, and espresso coffee. There is also an ATM handy for those who are hungry but short on cash. The Bazar is located on the corner of Calles 39 and 40, just to the right of Hotel Méson del Marqués, and across from the Plaza Principal. Méson del Marques was the delightful hotel where we stayed during our adventures in Valladolid. As you can see, there were quite a number of people enjoying a late meal or a snack on this balmy evening.

This concludes Part 22 of my Valladolid Adventures series and finishes the series itself. Following this will be several more series focusing on areas we visited in day trips in northern Yucatan. I hope you enjoyed this posting. If so, please leave any thoughts or questions in the Comments section below or email me directly. If you leave a question, please remember to include your email address so that I can respond in a timely manner.

Hasta luego, Jim

 

Valladolid Adventures Part 21 of 22: The historic churches of Santa Lucia, Santa Ana, and La Calendaria

 

Iglesia de Santa Lucia is one of Valladolid's oldest churches. It was built with limestone, the same material that had been used by the Maya to construct pyramids and temples in the pre-hispanic city of Zaci. The Spanish conquered Zaci in 1545 and built Valladolid on its ruins. The choir window on the facade above the door contains a stained-glass image of Santa Lucia, a young woman who was martyred during the persecution of Christians under the Roman Emperor Diocletian. 

At the top of the facade is a campanario (belfry) containing three bells. These are still rung the old-fashioned way, with ropes. The church was built in 1565, only a couple of decades after the conquistador Francisco Montejo el Mozo conquered Zaci. Many of Valladolid's buildings were constructed using materials looted from Zaci's pyramids and temples. The Santa Lucia church is located on the corner of Calle 42 and Calle 47. Parque Santa Lucia is located across the street from the church. This is the first of three colonial-era churches I will show in this posting. The other two are Santa Ana and La Candelaria.  

Stucco flowers decorate the arch over the right-side entrance of the church. A matching doorway can be seen across the nave. The two side-entrances are about 2/3 of the way along the walls from the front of the church. There is a single, barrel-vaulted nave with an attached sacristy. Although I haven't determined exactly who built Santa Lucia, the style is very similar to that used by the Franciscan Order during the 16th century. According to one source, the church was built for the use of slaves imported from Africa to work on the local haciendas. 

If you are a regular visitor to this blog, you may have noticed that I often highlight the churches in colonial cities that we visit. As a photographer, their architecture always attracts me, but it is more than that. What really fascinates me are the cultural, political, economic, and even military roles that these religious structures played in Mexico's history, from colonial times through the early 20th century. They are nearly always central to the story of any particular locality. The churches of Santa Lucia, Santa Ana, and Candelaria are good examples of this.

View of the nave toward the main altar. Although all three churches are still used for regular services, Iglesia Santa Lucia is the only one where the nave was accessible when we visited. The simple, sparsely-decorated interior is a feature typical of Franciscan churches. The two side entrances can be seen on either side of the nave. At the far end is the apse, containing the main altar and a wooden retablo on its back wall. The earliest sources of information about the martyrdom of Santa Lucia date back to the 4th century AD. The story of her life has been much embellished over the following centuries.

Santa Lucia (283-304 AD) was born in Syracuse, Sicily. Her wealthy Roman father died early in her life. Her mother's name, Eutychia, suggests that she was ethnically Greek. Lucia became a Christian at an early age and persuaded her mother to give away a large part of the family fortune to the poor. This angered the man to whom Lucia had become betrothed and he denounced her as a Christian to the authorities. The Emperor Diocletian's persecutions  were at their height at the time and Lucia was arrested. She miraculously survived the first few attempts to execute her, but finally died when a sword was thrust into her neck.

A small but lovely retablo covers the back wall of the apse. This wooden altarpiece has three niches. In the center, Jesus hangs from the cross. The left niche contains a female figure that may be Santa Lucia. In the right niche is a statue that appears to be Jesus. Two more saints stand on either side of the retablo. On the far left is San Isidro Labrador, the patron of farm workers. The identity of the saint on the far right is unclear. Standing in front of the retablo on the right is a statue of the Virgin of Guadalupe, patron of Mexico and its poor and indigenous people.

The neighborhood around the church is called Barrio Santa Lucia. This was where the leaders of the "First Spark of the Revolution" gathered here to plan their revolt (see Part 20). It was launched on June 4, 1910, but was crushed by troops sent by the dictator Porfirio Diaz. There were four days of fierce fighting that filled the streets with bodies. The rebel leaders who survived were captured and summarily executed. The First Spark pre-dated the main November 20 revolt by several months. Valladolid's residents are proud of their claim that the Mexican Revolution actually started in their city.

Statue of the Virgin Mary wearing a golden crown and holding the Baby Jesus. There are many versions of Mary. Some of these involve a miraculous apparition, often many centuries after her death. This statue shows her as the Madonna of the Golden Crown. She was first portrayed this way in an early 1500s painting. 

The crown symbolizes her role as Queen of Heaven and the child represents her as the Mother of God (Jesus). The crown further suggests a connection to the royal House of David, founded by the first King of Israel. This seems pretty far afield from her actual New Testament description as the wife of a simple carpenter from the small Palestinian town of Nazareth.

Iglesia de Santa Ana

Three arched gates form the entrance to Santa Ana's atrium. This church was built in the last half the 16th century and was intended solely for the use of the Maya. Along with the imported African slaves, the Maya were forbidden access to the Spanish churches built for the conquistadors and settlers. However, in order to maintain their dominant position the Spanish needed to indoctrinate the native and slave populations into a belief system under which they would accept subordination. Military conquest could be accomplished by force, but a stable society needed willing, or at least docile, subjects.

The process of indoctrination was called the "Spiritual Conquest". Central to it was the conversion of the subordinate populations to Catholicism. This was coupled with the suppression of their native religious practices (i.e. stopping "devil worship"). Consequently, Iglesia de Santa Ana was built for the Maya and Santa Lucia for the African slaves. At Santa Ana, almost all services were conducted in the Yucatecan Maya language. However, mass was delivered in Latin, as it was in all Catholic churches. Santa Lucia's services (except for the Latin mass) were probably in Spanish, given the variety of African languages. 

The arches are attached to the low wall surrounding the atrium. Atriums were often part of early colonial churches. Their purpose was to provide an enclosed exterior space for religious processions and activities. The number of participants in these rituals would often have been too large to fit inside the nave of the church. The trees on the upper left are part of Parque de Santa Ana, a space with some important history of its own. You can read more about the Parque below. 

The facade of Iglesia de Santa Ana. Like Santa Lucia, this church displays a simplicity that suggests a Franciscan origin. The decoration includes only the relief carvings around the entrances, the choir window image of Santa Ana, and the four-bell campanario. There are finials on the corners of the structure's roof and on the campanario, but these have a very plain design. There are two side entrances, as well as the one on the front, all with thick wooden doors. The very limited access, the single high window, and the thick, high walls all suggest a fortress, which could well have been one of the structure's intended purposes.

Spanish colonial churches were often used as places of refuge during violent conflicts. Sometimes, they even became strong points during sieges. Valladolid's Templo San Servacio and Convento San Bernardino de Siena both served this purpose. Many people in the U.S. will recall that the famous 19th century Siege of the Alamo in Texas occurred at a Franciscan mission. Yucatan was plagued with wars, revolts, and uprisings from the beginning of the Conquest in 1527 to the aftermath of the Mexican Revolution in the 1930s. It is not clear whether Iglesia Santa Ana ever served as a fortress, but it certainly could have.

An arched gate frames the right-side entrance to the nave. There is a similar gate and entrance on the opposite side of the church. Although we were unable to gain access to the nave, a sign outside provided information. The masonry church has a barrel vault nave with a sacristy. In the apse at the end of the nave is a 17th century baroque-style retablo, containing several statues in niches. Among these are Santa Lucia, San José, and San Pedro. On each side of the altar are statues of San Dimas and San Judas Tadeo. An antique chest serves as the reliquary (container for sacred relics).  

Santa Ana was the mother of the Virgin Mary. Neither Mary's mother nor her father, San Joaquin, are mentioned in the Bible's New Testament, but are simply part of Church traditions. According to the Protoevangelium of James, written in 150 AD, Santa Ana and San Joaquin were a wealthy couple unable to have a child. Joaquin prayed for help and Ana was then visited by an angel who told her  that she would have a child. James wrote his account more than a century after Jesus' crucifixion. Apparently, it was felt necessary to have a story to answer questions about Mary's origin.

A monument to the Niños Heroes stands in Parque de Santa Ana. The Niños Heroes (Boy Heros) were cadets at Mexico City's Chapultepec Military Academy. During the Mexican-American War (1846-48), the American army attacked the 200-foot bluff where the Academy was located. Only a fraction of the forces needed for its defense were available. Among these were the cadets, some as young as 10 years old. When a retreat was ordered, six of the cadets refused and fought to the death. Juan Escutla was the last one alive when he wrapped himself in the Mexican flag and plunged off the cliff to his death.

Parque de Santa Ana is also notable as the site of the incident that ignited the 68-year-long Caste War. Tensions in Yucatan were running high in 1847, particularly in the area around Valladolid. Oppressed for centuries by the Spanish and their Ladino (non-Maya Mexican) successors, the Maya were in a mood to strike back. The Ladino leaders were aware of the danger and decided to act preemptively. They arrested Don Manuel Antonio Ay, a local Maya leader, and accused him of sedition. He was executed at Parque Santa Ana on July 26, 1847. This completely backfired because it triggered a massive revolt that lasted for decades.

Iglesia de la Candelaria

Igelesia de la Candelaria. The 18th century church occupies the corner of Calle 44 and Calle 35. It was built on the site of an hermitage, which was a religious site intended primarily for seclusion. The Candelaria church is named after Nuestra Señora de la Candelaria (Our Lady of the Candlemass). She is venerated in Valladolid and is the patron of the city's annual festival, held on February 2. 

La Candelaria church is notable for its Moorish features. The Moors invaded Spain from North Africa in 711 AD. At one point, they controlled nearly all of the Iberian peninsula. The last of them were not expelled from Spain until 1492. During their nearly 800 year presence, the Moors created some of world's most beautiful buildings. The Moorish architectural style was brought from Spain to the New World and can be seen in churches and other colonial-era structures throughout Mexico.

The campanario on top of the facade has spaces for three bells.  The masonry church has a single vaulted nave, a sacristy, and a large courtyard. Attached to the front of the facade is a portico with three Moorish arches facing the street and one on each end. We were unable to access the nave, but one source says that the apse contains a Mexican Baroque retablo on the wall behind the altar. 

A Spaniard named Alonso de Espinosa produced the first written account of the legend of the Virgen de la Candelaria in 1594. However, the story he told dates back to 1392 in the Canary Islands. According to native oral traditions, two indigenous islanders found a statue washed up on a beach about a century before the Spanish arrived. It was a medieval gothic sculpture of a woman holding a child in one hand and a candle in the other. The dark figure wore clothing similar to that of the Virgen de Lluch (patron of Mallorca). The statue may have been lost overboard from a medieval European ship and washed ashore.

The native people believed the statue represented their earth goddess, Chaxiraxi, and  worshiped it over the next century. When the Spanish arrived in 1496. they declared that the statue represented the Virgin Mary taking Jesus to the Jerusalem Temple for his first visit. This was an event called Candelaria that Catholics celebrated each February 2. In 1526, the Spanish decided to house the statue in a hermitage. However, in1826, it was lost in a tsunami. Canary Islanders carried the story of the Virgen de la Candelaria with them when they migrated to other parts of the Spanish Empire, including Nueva España (Mexico).

The floor of the Moorish portico is covered by what may be the original stonework. Although the Muslim Moors were hated for their 800-year domination of Spain, the Spanish Christians admired their culture and architectural styles. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. 

A sign near the church provides a local legend about the Virgen de Candelaria. In the 18th century, a Maya hacienda worker led a caravan of burros loaded with palm fronds into Valladolid. When he entered the city, he encountered a beautiful woman carrying a child with one hand and a lit candle in the other. She asked the worker to build a shelter for her and her baby, using the palms he was transporting. He agreed, but needed wood to complete the shelter. When he went into the mountains the next morning to look for wood, he met a co-worker from the same hacienda and asked for help in building the shelter.  

Interior courtyard of the Santa Ana church. Notice the rough wooden varas (rafters) on the ceiling in the upper right. They appear to be original parts of the arcade that surrounds the courtyard. 

After finishing the woman's shelter, the two men returned to the hacienda where they met the foreman. He was upset by their absence and didn't believe their explanation. So, the workers took him to meet the woman and see the shelter. The foreman was so impressed by the woman's beauty that he reported the incident to the hacendados (owners). Because of the child and the candle, the hacendados believed her to be an apparition of the Virgen de la Candelaria and they ordered a chapel to be built in her honor. Today, she is celebrated as the patron of Valladolid's festival of the Virgen de la Candelaria.

View of Parque de la Candelaria from the Moorish portico. Like the other churches in this posting, Iglesia de la Candelaria has a park across the street. When the festival of Candelaria is held on February 2, the park will be lined with stalls, many of them selling various kinds of food. The most popular of these are Yucatecan-style tamales, filled with turkey, chicken, pork, or corn kernels. 

There is a Mexican tradition connecting Candelaria with the January 6 Dia de los Tres Reyes (Three Kings Day). On that day a special cake is served, called rosca de reyes. Baked into the cake is a small figurine. Whoever finds the figurine in their slice of cake must supply the tamales for the next Candelaria fiesta.

This completes Part 21 of my Valladolid Adventures series. I hope you 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 fashion.

Hasta luego, Jim