A Day in Izamal

Yesterday we took another excursion outside of the city.  This time we went to the ancient city of Izamal which is located about an hour to the east of Mérida.  It began as a Mayan city more than two thousand years ago.  It was considered a holy place, and drew pilgrims from across the peninsula.  When the Spanish arrived, they used the stones of the Mayan structures to build their own town, and Izamal became a center for the conversion of the native people to the Catholic faith.  In 1993, Pope John Paul II visited Izamal.  In honor of his visit all the buildings in the town were painted yellow with white trim (the colors of the Papal flag).  The town continues to paint everything yellow, which gives it a unique appearance.  In 2002, Izamal was named a "Pueblo Mágico" (Magic Town) by the Mexican tourist board, a designation given to picturesque towns rich in history and culture.

 

"La Ciudad Amarilla" - The Yellow City

As soon as we arrived, we decided to climb the Mayan pyramid of Kinich Kakmo which stands in the middle of the town.  It is the tallest pyramid in the Yucatán, and in terms of volume, the third largest in all of Mexico.  It was just too big for the Spanish to tear down.  As you walk along one of the streets in Izamal there is a gap between the buildings, and, lo and behold, there is a staircase leading up the pyramid.  

You don't appreciate the size of the pyramid until you get to the top of the stairs.  You are then in a what appears to be a large field the size of several city blocks... but in fact you are standing upon the first level of the pyramid.  (I wonder if it might not have been an area where large groups of people could have assembled for religious ceremonies.)  At one end of the "field" is the next stage of the pyramid. 

Most of its staircase has not been reconstructed, but the stones are not loose, and it is not too difficult to clamor up to the very top.  Nancy and Fred were not about to be left behind this time, and all three of us made it to the summit.

 

We are the lords of Izamal!

After descending the pyramid, we visited the town's most important monument from the colonial era... the Monastery of San Antonio de Padua.  It was established in the 1500s by the Franciscans on the site of a Mayan temple.  In front of the church and monastery is large atrium, the largest church atrium in the Americas, surrounded by a colonnade.

 Inside the church on the main altarpiece is the Virgin of Izamal, venerated as the patron saint of the Yucatán

 

.  In the town are a number of artisans who create a variety of handicrafts.  We visited the workshop of one of these artisans, Esteban Abán Montejo.  He creates beautiful jewelry out of the spines of the henequen plant and the cocoyol, the nut of a certain variety of palm tree.

Here Nancy models one of his jewelry creations.

We ended our day in Izamal with dinner at Restaurante Kinich.  This popular place is housed under a thatched roof and specializes in Yucatecan cuisine.