Merida, Yucatan
After days of swatting mosquitoes, wondering just how hungry the crocs really are , and if our little boats are stable, assuming a more traditional tourist mode, roaming the streets of user-friendly cities made very good sense. Well, we did not exactly roam the streets at first. With no pyramidal stair work planned for the day, we basked in a planned gathering time of 9:30 AM for the sole purpose of a short drive across the splendid Colonial city of Merida for what proved to be a destination meal of the highest order. A life-long friend of Paul’s from Bolivia lives here in Merida with her upper class family. Having enjoyed a fine dinner with Sonja last night in a downtown restaurant, she decided to spend a good part of the night with her household help organizing a vast feed, presented in elegant fashion on her formal dining room table that seats about twelve. Sonja could easily be working with the State Department or federal tourism bureau. We greatly enjoyed her elegant style and class. Certainly Merida is friendlier for her residence here.
Mérida was founded in 1542 by Francisco de Montejo "el Mozo" and built on the site of the Maya city of T'ho (known as Ichcaanzihó or "city of the five hills", referring to five pyramids), once a center of Mayan culture and activity for centuries. Mérida may be the oldest continually occupied city in the Americas.
Maya stones from ancient T'ho were widely used to build Spanish colonial buildings that are plentiful in downtown Mérida, even visible in the walls of the Cathedral. Much of Mérida's architecture from the colonial period through the 18th century and 19th century is still standing in the centro historico of the city. From colonial times through the mid 19th century, Mérida was a walled city intended to protect residents from periodic revolts by indigenous Maya. The Spanish did give strong reason for the Maya to be ill-tempered. Several of old city gates survive, but modern Mérida has expanded well beyond the old city walls, now an urban center of close to a million residents.
Juan, our Mayan expert and guide is from Merida and he walked us about the colonial center and shared much interesting information about the city’s origins. Our wanderings about the centro included visits to the Governor’s Palace, the Cathedral, a university, several plazas, and number of other historical structures. The Governor’s Palace is a spacious structure surrounding a fine three-level courtyard. Huge paintings depicting the history of Mexico are on permanent display here. Many of the curious from the plaza and street wandered in for thirty minutes or more and roamed all three floors. I took about thirty photos myself. The University of Yucatan is in a building dating from 1624. This very colonial structure also was open to the street and we curious again wandered in. I found the Moorish influence in the courtyard material for pleasing photos. A beautifully painted vaulted ceiling is enjoyed in the well air-conditioned reading rooms of the library. Mayan relief work is to be found in the walls of the Cathedral – a form of recycling of dubious value to archeologists.
Walking about Merida one realizes the city has a gentle aspect to it and feels very civilized. There is a comfortable well-fitting sensibility with little pretense. The plazas and sense of openness is refreshing and a great delight. So often while travelling in Europe, I find a sense of many places being closed off to the street and some countries keep police and guards posted to insure the curious don’t wander off the street. Privacy is insisted on in much of Europe and America. Yucatan has an open inviting demeanor to it. Government buildings, theaters, the university, and other places had their doors not only unlocked, but propped open. One could wander most anywhere with impunity. For curious photographers, Merida is heaven. We were invited into several homes.
Despite a somewhat testy history with the Mayan culture, today one finds a city painted with vibrant colors and there seems to be a splendid sense of people getting along easily. There is no evidence of the pain and drug violence that is being widely reported in the American media about Mexico. As has been our experience everywhere thus far, we have felt absolutely safe and secure at all times. We feel most blessed to be enjoying Mexico on very good behavior.
During the evening after a splendid dining experience in Juan’s house, we wandered over to Santa Lucia Park where a Thursday night block party has convened for fifty years. A thousand people or more enjoyed their city to the max, and ice cream vendors sold their cooling wares on a hot summer night. Merida is no longer a black dot in my atlas.
Beauty is everywhere, even in the rocks reused in someone else’s walls.
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