Today we took the 9am bus to Valladolid, a colonial city, located about 2 hours from Tulum.
The town was built by the Spanish on a Maya ceremonial site. For much of the time after that the indigenous Maya population was repressed, something that has only been changed in more recent times.The downtown area of Valladolid is one of the most spectacular colonial gems of Mexico, being part of the Magical Town (Pueblo Mágico) program to increase the tourism to small historical towns like this.
Our first stop was the Iglesia de Candelaria.
According to legend, upon entering the town, a Mayan Indian carrying a load of palms, looked up and saw a beautiful lady who had a lighted candle in one hand and the other was carrying a small child. She stared at him and asked him to build a roof with palms so she and her son would not get wet. He, along with another Native did. The image of the virgin and child remind Catholics when Jesus was presented by his mother in the temple. Since then, the cult of Candelaria has emerged as one of the most important in the eastern region of the Yucatan Peninsula.
Next we walked to the main square, or “zocolo.” On the south side of the park is the majestic Cathedral of San Gervasio.
The cathedral was completed in 1570 by the Franciscans. During struggles between the Maya and the Spanish, the church was desecrated by violence. In 1702, it was destroyed and then rebuilt.
During the reconstruction, the main door was moved to face the square and is the only one of the seven churches whose main doors face north instead of west in Valladolid.
We wandered through the square and watched this guy training his dogs. None were leashed, but under voice command. He placed them in a sit-stay, gave them a treat and walked away. They sat, and sat, and sat, until he called them when they came running.
Along the walkway on the west side of the square a local artist showed us a carving he had done. He said it took him three years to complete and was carved from one piece of wood. He explained all of the animals, temples, and significance to the Mayan people.
Continuing on, we passed lots of interesting sights. One guy took his chicken to town with him, but kept her tied to his car.
One of the things we noticed was how many women were wearing traditional indigenous clothing. We also passed several stands on the street where the women were selling fresh fruits an vegetables and most had on the colorfully embroidered lace dresses.
Other stops included the San Roque Museum. Originally a 16th-century convent, San Roque has models and exhibits showing the history of the city and the region. While a small museum, the few pieces they had were impressive and the dioramas were interesting.
We also toured the Convent of San Bernardino of Siena, which was founded in 1552 by the Franciscan Order.
Some say it was the first church constructed on American soil and its size is imposing. The convent was not for nuns, but for monks.There is no fee to enter the church, but we paid $30 pesos per person to visit the museum and grounds of the convent. It was erected over the vault of a very large cenote, (underground river), and during times of war with Spain, and during the Caste War (a civil war), many weapons and items were thrown into the cenote. In the 1970s, a team of archaeological divers recovered and cataloged several items from the cenote and they are on display in the museum side. They have done an incredible job of writing the history on display boards – both in Spanish and English – explaining the history of the convent, the area, and the recovery of items.This is inside the convent area.
Another amazing thing about the monastery is that it was created to be self-sustaining. The monks raised all their own food; they planted huge orchards and vegetable gardens and had fresh water from the cenote. The picture below is the wheel-house over the cenote. Only part of the wheel system is still intact.
Near the convent, on the “Calzada de los Frailes” (Street of the Monks), is a Mayan house. The city had it preserved to remind people what the Mayan homes were like.
One of the things about Valladolid the is so striking are all the colorful houses and buildings. The first picture below is part of Calzada de los Frailes.The other pictures were just different streets scattered through the town.
We also noticed how CLEAN Valladolid is compared to Tulum. While we love Tulum, there is trash everywhere. We did not notice trash on the streets anywhere in Valladolid!We had street tacos for lunch today – at two different places.
This was our first stop and while it doesn’t look like much, the first time we walked by it was so crowded with locals, we couldn’t get close to the cart to even see what kind of tacos they had! When we came back, we each got 2 pork tacos and they were yummy and only $7 pesos each!
Our second stop was written about as having “the best tacos” in the world. They were a chicken taco and while they were okay, we would not put them even in the top 10!
The last couple stops on our itinerary included the public market and the Cenote Zaci. Unfortunately, because it was now late afternoon, the market was almost entirely closed up.
The building was huge and again, picturesque!The last stop was the cenote.
We brought our swimsuits along, but decided to just look at the cenote because we only had about an hour before our bus. It was a $30 pesos admission.
We climbed the stairs down and saw a few people jumping off the walls and swimming in the mostly clear water. The Cenote Zaci is located a few blocks east of the center of Valladolid. This cenote is open to the air on one side while the other side is covered by stalactites and stalagmites.Our bus back to Tulum left at 5:20 and with a 1-hour time change, made for a late arrival back to the apartment – after 8pm. We were exhausted, but had a great day exploring the colonial city of Valladolid!
