January 20, 2025
“But I am not running away. I am running toward…toward adventure, toward discovery, toward diversity. And while I was in Mexico I discovered something intriguing: Once I leave the U.S., I am not bound by the rules of my culture”
Rita Goldman Gelman, American Writer
It has been a recurring theme of these episodes. Just leaving your hotel and walking in a random direction often leads to the most pleasant of afternoons. You just get lost and in doing so you find what you were looking for in the first place.
They have a tradition in Merida. Once a week they close a major thoroughfare to traffic and allow only pedestrians and bicycles. The road is several miles long and cuts through the heart of the old city. It seemed as good a path as any so we set off.
First though - breakfast. There are multiple food stalls that line the plazas. We stopped in one helmed by three hard working middle aged women in colorful dresses working over hot stoves. One frantic waiter handles the tables. He was young with an easy smile and surprisingly patient with us despite our terrible Spanish. He introduced us to a Sope, a thick fried corn tortilla with a raised edge. On it was piled hot fresh refried beans, cheese, lettuce, and salsa.
Delicious.
We set off. Ubiquitous Great-tailed Grackles and Tropical Kingbirds flitted about on the ground and in the many trees adding their songs to the general noise of the city.
Our first stop was a hulking severe cathedral on the corner of the Plaza de Grand. This is the Catedral de San Ildenfonso. It was started in 1561 and completed in 1598. It was built by Jesuit missionaries. In what is a frequent story the Spanish (aka the Harkonnens of colonial powers), did not bother with finding the needed rock to quarry such a large structure. There was a Mayan temple on the site so they simply tore it down in the name of God and used the rocky debris to erect this temple to Christ and unity. Even today if you inspect the sides of the building, you can find original Mayan stones. At the time there were five Mayan temples surrounding the Plaza. All have been razed to the ground.
When Spain was here colonizing, it was the time of the Inquisition back home. The world was pretty black and white in that worldview. You were either Roman Catholic or Pagan (AKA Satanic) and therefore it was your christian duty to destroy it.
Outside the massive stone edifice you will find arrow slits for soldiers to attack pagans outside.
The interior of the church, while grand is mostly bare of adornments. During the Mexican Revolution peasants stormed the building in protest to the clerical elite and stripped the interior.
The massive crucifix behind the altar is ironically known as Cristo de la Unidad or Christ of the Unity - a symbol of reconciliation between the Spanish and the Mayans. It is one of the largest crucifixes in the world. The massive body of Christ was carved from a single block of wood including the outstreched arms.
Just to the left of the main altar in a small chapel is Merida’s most famous religious artifact. This statue is called Cristo de las Ampollas (Christ of the Blisters). Local legend tells the statue was carved entirely from a tree that was struck by lightning and burned the entire night without charring. It also survived a devastating fire of a church in another town though it is obviously blackened from the heat. It was moved here in 1645. It is highly venerated.
We met a lovely older man who was a church volunteer and proudly showed us around the knave telling stories. He pointed out the spot where John Paul II came and prayed while he sat a short distance away.
Nearby was another building with an ancient front that drew our attention. This is the Casa de Montejo the home of the governor and founder of Merida. . It was built in 1540 The facade tells you everything that you need to know. The conquistadors rise tall and giant standing on the heads of the barbarians (AKA the Mayans).
As time went on the building passed to multiple different hands and today houses a small museum featuring Victorian era furniture and a bank.
Here we find the original city hall. The external architecture is sometimes call Mexican National. But, it is actually Moorish or Islamic. We saw a lot of this during Episode XI of this blog. (https://www.roadtobali.net/episode-xi-andalusia ). At the time of the colonization, much of Spain was still under Moorish influence so much so that 30% of the Spanish language today is Arabic in its roots.
Our walk continued down the closed street. We came across a smaller church that is the second oldest in the city. It was founded by the Franciscans. The interior was festooned with gardenias lending the nave a lovely floral smell. Here the interior adornments survived the purge mentioned earlier and fresco walls gave the interior a bright comforting feel.
The parade of bicycles of every type was endless. Bicycle rentals appears to be a cottage industry on these days when the road is closed to automobile traffic. We walked several miles and passed old mansions that spoke of old money wealth during the time of the fiber trade that boomed here until the invention of Nylon. Today they are mostly museums.
It was a little hotter today and the heat coming off the asphalt at last forced us to retreat. We found a courtyard restaurant for lunch and enjoyed the the cool shade of the interior trees. The wisdom of siestas was readily evident.
That evening we returned again to the plaza. The stand we went to breakfast that morning was STILL OPEN! The hard working ladies were still slugging away over the hot stoves. We enjoyed another meal there. There were numerous street musicians of wildly different styles playing everywhere contributing to a cacophony of noise. Some appeared talented. Others had the skills of my 3 year old grandson.
One fellow came to our table banging loud quarter notes on a drum. He stopped and asked if we wanted to pay him for this melodic interlude. I was trying to figure out the Spanish to say I would pay him not to play. Gratefully moved on lost in the din of the crowd.
We finished the evening walking around the bustling Grand Plaza as the sun was setting. it was a people watching paradise. There were hundreds of locals enjoying the warm evening. Children running playing with bubble machines, old couples sitting on benches, random touts (People selling things), musicians, people playing cards, lovers taking selfies, a concert setting up for of all things Spanish Techno artists, light toys tossed into the night sky, and much more.
It was glorious .
As I close this report, let me offer this moment of Zen -
Comments