The woman above is wearing a huipiles, a sack-like white cotton dress trimmed with gaily colored floral embroidery. Below is a view of the cathedral from the main plaza.
The Montejo family palace (below), on the south side of the square, was built in the 1550s. The Montejo family was the most powerful Spanish family and was responsible for much of the building of Merida after the defeat of the Mayan people. Today the building is a bank.
The Governor's Palace (the green building below) is on the northeast side of the square.
The architecture was very interesting.
The Cathedral
We saw lots of calesas, horse-drawn carriages, taking people for rides, but we opted to walk.
During the 1880s the number of wealthy people in the city grew as the demand for henequen grew. Henequen is a fiber produced from the sisal cactus and made into rope and twine. The millionaires turned Merida into the wealthiest capital city in Mexico. These are just a few of the houses that were built along “Millionaire Row” during the 1880s.
A wealthy Frenchman had his architects and workmen build the house on the right (below) with the help of Mayans. When it was completed, he instructed the Mayans to build a “Twin House” next door for his daughter. They seem to have accomplished the task!
After some shopping at the local food Mercado and a stop at a super-grocery store for meat, we headed back to our camp. We passed this interesting Mayan-inspired roundabout. We spent the evening with new friends, Norma and Croft, and Whit and Jan.
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