Mérida

Mérida was founded on a Maya city in the sixteenth century and grew enormously rich in the nineteenth from henequen, the agave fibre used worldwide for rope, and that money built the Paseo de Montejo, a boulevard of French-influenced mansions that locals compare to Paris with only mild exaggeration. The cathedral on the main square is the oldest on the mainland of the Americas, built partly with stone taken from the Maya temples that stood here. The city is calm, walkable and known as one of the safest in Mexico, with free concerts and dance in the squares most evenings, a serious Yucatecan food culture of cochinita pibil and sopa de lima, and restored henequen haciendas in the countryside around.

History

Francisco de Montejo the Younger founded the Spanish city on 6 January 1542 on top of the Maya city of Ti'ho, also called Ichcaanzihó, "City of Five Hills" after its pyramids - and stone from those ruins went into the first Spanish buildings, the cathedral among them, which was finished in 1598. The henequen fortune of the late 19th century paid for the big houses along the Paseo de Montejo, most of them from the early 20th. The city had about 922,000 people at the 2020 census (Wikipedia, Mérida, Yucatán).

Highlights

• Paseo de Montejo - the boulevard of henequen-era mansions.
• The cathedral - the oldest on the American mainland, built from temple stone.
• Yucatecan food - cochinita pibil, sopa de lima and papadzules.
• The haciendas - restored henequen estates in the surrounding countryside.

When to go

November to March is the cooler, drier season; from April the Yucatán heat becomes serious and the summer is hot and humid. The city puts on free music and dance in the squares most evenings, with a big programme at weekends when streets close to traffic.

Practical notes

It is genuinely hot for much of the year, and midday in April or May is punishing for walking. There is no beach; the coast at Progreso is a half-hour away and unremarkable. The city is a base for the Maya sites and cenotes rather than a beach holiday, and visitors expecting the Riviera Maya will be in the wrong place.

Nearby

Uxmal and Chichén Itzá are within reach; the cenotes of Cuzamá and Homún are close.

Key facts