Suprise Cancun Road to Izamal and Beyond
Today we took a road trip inland. My son Winston does great reasearch finding unusual and interesting sites to see off the beaten track. He planned every aspect of this adventure. My husband Neil and I did not learn of the four and a half hour time commitment, each way until we set the nav system. The stage for this adventure was a two lane toll highway that had only two exits. The last forty five minutes of our trip we drove on a one lane road with speed bumps randomly placed and sometimes actually marked.
First stop, a small, adorable, Ochre-Yellow town called Izamal. Izamal , a colonial town with a distinct small town feel.
The city is known for not only the beautiful color, but also for the interesting architecture.
We stopped here for lunch and some great shooting. (My husband said, I can’t use the word “shooting” because people will think I am killing pigeons; my son retorted, “Dad you’re sooooo eighteenth century.”)
There used to be local artisans’ workshops where you can buy a variety of local handicrafts and folk art. Unfortunately, now there are only small stores that resemble dollar stores.
These beautiful trees, line the town square. I have done hours of research trying to find out what kind of trees they are and nothing could be found on them. Does anyone know what species this is?
- After the Spanish conquest of Yucatán in the 16th century a Spanish colonial city was founded atop the existing Maya one, however it was decided that it would take a prohibitively large amount of work to level these two huge structures and so the
- Spanish contented themselves with placing a small Christian temple on top of the great pyramid and building a large Franciscan Monastery on top of the acropolis. It was named after San Antonio de Padua. Completed in 1561, the atrium of the Monastery was second in size only to that at the Vatican. Much of the cut stone from the Pre-Columbian city was reused to build the Spanish churches, monastery, and surrounding buildings.
- The Maya language is still heard at least as much as Spanish in Izamal. It is the first language in the homes of the majority of the people. Most signs are in both languages..
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