Izamal, Yucatan. The city of hills.

Izamal

 

The City of Hills, located right in the middle of the Yucatan Penninsula, Izamal maybe the oldest city in Yucatan. Its history is very attached to religious events. Izamal was conquered by the Spaniards, and it was the monks in their eagerness to convert the Indians to Catholicism that gave the city its religious distinction. To this day, Izamal's people are very devoted to Immaculate Virgin.

An important sight in Izamal is the Franciscan Convent that was built from and over one of the Mayan pyramids. This convent is also famous for the story of the monk Fray Diego de Landa, its founder, who burned all the Indian crypts, and then feeling remorse for what he had done, tried to write all he could remember of the ways of the Indians in the "Relation of things of the Yucatan".

 

Pope John Paul II visited Izamal in 1993 and held a special meeting and Mass specifically for the indigenous people of the area. This has been one of Izamal's claims to fame ever since. Note the beautiful restored altar piece, the stained glass window of St. Francis de Asissi, and the many statues along the walls.

Izamal is a jewel of a colonial city, with just about all the buildings painted egg-yolk yellow, making all the town look like a movie set. Cabblestoned streets and colonial lamp posts complete the scenery.

There are Mayan pyramids (Kinich Kakmo, the most important), colonial-style buildinags, parks and plazas, horses and buggies and lots of people for people watching.

Visit the Community Museum, located under the Convent. Check out the horse and buggies that are by the plaza and can take you all over town. We hope you can vivit this part of the Yucatan State.