Merida

Merida, a city of about 1 million people, is a wonderful mixture of colonial city and cosmopolitan destination.

With Merida as your base, you can visit cathedrals and churches, Mayan ruins, museums, haciendas and cenotes. You'll also find movies, theaters, important hospitals, public and private schools, four universities, shopping malls with such stores as Sear's, and chain stores such as Sam's, Costco and WalMart as well as the Mexican chains of Liverpool, Comercial Mexicana/MEGA, Soriana and Sanborn's

Things To Do

The Cathedral On The Square

This is the oldest cathedral in continental America, begun shortly after the Spanish established Mérida in 1542 and finished in 1598. In 300 B.C. the Mayans first established the area where Merida's Cathedral and Square now stand. When the Spanish arrived, they destroyed the Mayan buildings and used the stones to build the cathedral. Three arched doors lead to a soaring interior.

The Mercado

The Mercado which is several blocks south of the main square is really something to see. Besides the fruit, vegetables, handicrafts, jewelry, tortillas being turned out by a machine, there are also animals being sold live or butchered on the spot, dressed and hung on a rack on the counter for sale.

Canton Palace and Anthrology Museum

The Canton Palace now houses the ANTHROPOLOGY & HISTORY MUSEUM in this completely refurbished mansion. There is an extensive exhibit of local Mayan history and anthropology as well as an excellent book and gift shop at the entrance.

My friend and I especially enjoyed the beauty of this magnificently restored building and its contents of Mayan treasures.

Open Tuesday through Saturday 9:00-8:00, Sunday 8:00-2:00. Admission $32.00 pesos ( that's about $2.90USD)

El Castello in the Morning Sun

El Castillo, the castle, is also referred to as the pyramid of Kukulkan, a god worshiped by the Maya after the Toltec people arrived to influence their thinking & future structures.

The Macay

MUSEO MACAY has permanent exhibitions of the work of Yucatecan artists, including additional paintings by Fernando Castro Pacheco, the painter of murals in the Governor's Palace. Museo MACAY also hosts visiting exhibits from other parts of Mexico. There is also usually a sculpture exhibit just outside the entrance in the walkway between the entrance and the cathedral. This is a must-see for anyone interested in contemporary art.

Merida Weekend Street Parties

Every weekend the streets in downtown Merida are blocked off to cars so that bands can play in every block, restaurants set up tables & chairs in the streets in order to serve food and people listen to the music, chat, laugh and dance. Also, during the week there are free concerts in the various parks in the city with all types of music.

The singer at this bandstand had been singing Sinatra tunes as well as some Bobby Darren songs. He was very good.

There is such a wonderful sense of community that accompanies these outdoor gatherings of people eating, dancing and enjoying the night and the music. It was my favorite Merida experience.

Paseo De Montejo

Several blocks north of the downtown square is the wide tree-lined avenue of Paseo de Montejo, named after the Spanish conquistador, Francisco de Montejo who founded the city in 1542. The avenue is lined with French style mansions, most now neglected, that were built by wealthy henequen or sisal plantation owners in the late 19th century. Sisal was used to make rope and hammocks before nylon was invented in the 20th century bringing much of the sisal industry to an end. The avenue also has several restaurants and banks on it today along with some interesting sculptures.

The Governor's Palace and The Murals

Inside another building on the main square is the Governor's Palace which houses some amazing murals that depict the history of Mexico. They were painted in the 1970's by Fernando Castro Pacheco, a local artist, and they are stunning and, as with this one, very moving. This painting shows the Mayans being taken as slaves after they were conquered by the Spanish in the 1500's.

The murals are so large that I couldn't get the kind of detail that I wanted with my camera, so I'm using a postcard of the painting for this tip.

The Ruins Of Chichen Itza

Merida is a center point from which one can travel to a great variety of fascinating places. One of the most important and most popular is the ruins of Chichen Itza, built by the Maya people probably between 450 and 600 A.D. The Mayas created centers in many places in the Yucatan, Belize & Guatamala. They were an advanced people who developed mathematics, astronomy and the calendar, hieroglyphic writing, architecture, art & culture while Europe was living in the dark ages.

Chichen Itza takes up about 4 square miles. The temples are laid out in such a fashion that they represent time - like an enormous calendar.

El Castillo, the castle, is a pyramid that is 24 meters high with 91 narrow steps up each of the four sides to the top where there is a temple. Visitors can make the climb if they wish.

Residential Streets In El Centro

Most of the residential streets in the older part of the city, El Centro, are made up of one story buildings, narrow sidewalks, & no trees or grass. Many fronts of the homes and stores have not been painted.

The traffic is thick and fast along the narrow streets. The population of Merida is about 800,000, so there are plenty of people out and about every day.