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