Exploring Colonial Mexico©Exploring Colonial Mexico©The principal colonial monuments of Mérida - the Cathedral, the Casa de Montejo and the monasteries of La Mejorada and Las Monjas - are well known. But the city can also boast a variety of lesser known churches and chapels of interest.
With the expansion of colonial Mérida after 1600, many former native barrio chapels, ermitas (local shrines and chapels) and outlying village churches were drawn into its orbit. Although usually modest and often considerably altered over time, they are all buildings of charm and character, and in one instance-that of San Cristobal-of considerable architectural distinction. Here are a few of our favorites, with their locations, proceeding outwards from the main plaza:
North
Santa Ana* (C. 45 & C. 60)
The little walled church of Santa Ana, founded in the late 1500s and rebuilt in the 1700s, served the northernmost barrio of colonial Merida with its sizeable Indian and mulatto population. Raised on what was probably a former Maya temple platform, the church was eclectically altered in post-colonial times and is easily identified by its curious pyramidal spires.
Itzimná* (C. 20 & C.
19)
The first colonial structure to be erected in this former Maya
village on the northern outskirts of Merida was an Indian chapel,
part of which may form the fabric of the raised sanctuary of this
attractive 18th century church. The distinctive facade, crowned
by a lofty, scrolled espadaña, is a prominent landmark
in this now fashionable suburb.
South
La Candelaria* (C. 67 & C.
64)
Founded as an ermita in the early 1600s, the sturdy little
church of Candelaria was rebuilt late in the same century, looking
much as it appears today. A modest espadaña trimmed with
tiny decorative scrolls and flanked by pierced parapets, stands
above the simply framed doorway. A gilded baroque retablo with
Salamonic columns-a rare colonial survival in the city-rests in
the domed sanctuary.
San Juan Bautista* (C. 69 & C.
62)
San Juan Bautista, with its multi-tiered towers and recessed facade
with shell archways, is a more modest version of nearby San Cristóbal.
Originally an ermita chapel marking the southern entry
to the colonial city, the church was repeatedly enlarged during
the colonial period and beyond. Its elegant proportions and baroque
front with carved stucco ornament are shown off to advantage by
the pleasant and spacious site, whose precincts were the haunt
of the sanjuanistas, a group of early 19th century reformers
and patriots.
The unusual neo-Gothic retablo - one of the few altarpieces to
survive the depredations of the Revolution - is fitted with mechanical
pulleys designed to cover and reveal the santos mounted in the
retablo.
San Cristóbal (C.50 & C. 69)
Southeast of the main plaza, opposite its own little park, stands
the parish church of San Cristóbal. This monumental church,
located in a city ward of the same name, is the last and most
sophisticated of Mérida's colonial churches.
The barrio was originally settled by native auxiliaries from central
Mexico, who accompanied the Montejos on their conquest of Yucatan
in the 1540s. After the Spanish conquest, the residents of the
quarter were served by the Franciscans from their monastery of
San Francisco de Mérida, but following the secularization
of the Franciscan church in the 1750s, pressure mounted to establish
a new parish church in the heart of the barrio. The foundation
stone was laid in 1757 and the church officially dedicated to
the Virgin of Guadalupe the next year - marking papal recognition
of the popular Virgin as the patron saint of Mexico.
Work proceeded at a snail's pace, however,
and a temporary wood and stone sanctuary was erected, with an
open thatched nave recalling the rural missions of the 16th century.
Finally, under the energetic priest Ignacio de Zepeda y Lira,
construction resumed apace in the 1790s, and the church was completed
in December 1796. Although its architect is uncertain, San Cristóbal
has been attributed to Juan de Torres, the designer and builder
of the grand church at Uman, Zepeda's previous curacy.
The church is a major Mérida landmark. Clearly related
to the cathedral, it also incorporates many late baroque features
of scale and appearance while successfully remaining within the
austere tradition of Yucatecan religious architecture. Multi-staged
twin towers anchor the lofty facade - a characteristic feature
of the Cathedral as well as numerous parish churches across the
peninsula. A great recessed shell archway, flanked by giant ornamental
pilasters, encloses the sober classical entry and a Moorish choir
window.
San Cristóbal's sheer nave walls enclose an interior gallery
(camino de rondo) reached by a spiral stairway of 129 steps. While
the coffered vaulting and the great dome above the crossing recall
the Cathedral interior, the neoclassical stone retablo is unique
in Yucatan - purportedly created by an imported European sculptor.
The modern mural medallions along the nave illustrate the apparitions
of the Virgin of Guadalupe.
Emblazoned above the doorway, framed by discreet baroque floral
reliefs, is the Latin inscription, "This is the House of
God and the Gate of Heaven."
Ermita de Santa Isabel* (C. 77 & C.
66)
This charming ermita chapel stands in a scenic park located
just outside the colonial city walls bordering the old camino
real from Campeche. Set on an elevated site beside a picturesque
grotto or cenote, this 18th century wayfarers shrine was originally
dedicated to Nuestra Señora del Buen Viaje. A rustic espadañasurmounts
the church front, anchored by stubby towers, and a plain beamed
ceiling covers the intimate nave. The gardens surrounding the
shrine are dotted with Mayan and colonial sculptures, and are
the venue for occasional musical evenings.
West
Santiago* (C.
59 & C. 72)
Located beside its much reduced atrium, the church was founded
in 1637, although little now remains of the original structure
save perhaps the modest sanctuary and the dated inscription placed
above the entry. The later nave is supported by a phalanx of external
buttresss and capped by a decorative, wave-like parapet. The imposing
19th century front features a baroque doorway and rather overwrought
baroque espadaña in three tiers with outsize pinnacles.
A retablo in late baroque style, with its statue of Santiago,
occupies the sanctuary.
Text ©2001 by Richard D. Perry. *Starred drawings ©1978 by Lawrence Mills.
Consult our guidebook, MAYA MISSIONS for more on the colonial buildings of Mérida and Yucatan.
Read travelers' accounts of Mérida and Yucatan through the ages in our new anthology, EXPLORING YUCATAN