Merida, comsopolitan city in northern Yucatan, a base for tourists to Puuc region ruins like Uxmal and to Mayan Chichen Itza.

---

Merida, a comsopolitan city in northern Yucatan that has become a base for tourists to the Mayan ruins of the Puuc region including Uxmal, Labna, Kabah, Sayil, and Xlapak. Busses leave for day trips to Chichen Itza and local busses go daily to nearby Dzibilchaltun. The modern city of about one million, founded by the Spanish in the 1540s, has a preserved colonial center with a striking plaza, a cathedral, museums, and great weekend nightlife when Paseo Montejo near the plaza is closed to traffic for a street festival of dance and music. A Mayan temple complex once stood where the massive Cathedral of San Idelfonso, built in the later half of the 16th century, now stands. The large central plaza is rimmed by other colonial buildings and museums including the Palacio Municipal built in 1735, and the Palacio de Gobierno built in 1892 and housing murals by Fernanco Castro Pacheco. Merida grew and prospered due to the growing and processing of sisal a fiber made from the plant henequen, an agave processed for the making of rope.

---

Size: 3900px × 5700px
Location: Merida, Yucatan,
Photo credit: © David Hilbert / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No

Keywords: base, city, merida, plaza, tourist, tourists, yucatan