DK Travel : Cancún and the Yucatán : History & Culture

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San Antonio de Padua, Izamal

The vast monastery of Izamal, painted ocher and white like the rest of the town (see Izamal), epitomizes the plain, austere style favored by the Franciscan friars who brought Catholicism to the Yucatán. Founded in 1549, its huge atrio , or courtyard, was designed to hold great crowds of Mayans in open-air Masses.
San Bernardino Sisal, Valladolid

This massive, fortress-like church and cloister was begun in 1552, and is the oldest permanent church in the Yucatán. Like others built around that time, it was designed by the Franciscan order’s own architect, Friar Juan de Mérida. It looks very medieval, with an unusual, beautifully shady gallery of graceful arches along the façade and a cloister of giant, squat stone columns around an exuberantly overgrown garden. Church and cloister have a delightful tranquility, and inside there are rare 18th-century Baroque altars and altarpieces.
San Bernardino Sisal, Valladolid

The oldest permanent church in the Yucatán began as part of a Franciscan monastery in 1552. It was located outside Valladolid so as to function both as a place of worship for the Spanish towns-folk and as a mission for Mayan villagers. Inside is a spectacularly painted Baroque altarpiece. The cloister surrounds an overgrown, palm-filled garden with a massive stone well from 1613, built over a natural cenote (seeSan Bernardino Sisal, Valladolid).
San Felipe

West of Río Lagartos, this village is smaller and has a superb, usually near-empty beach on the sandbar across the lagoon, facing the opal waters of the Gulf of Mexico. Village boatmen will ferry you to and from the beach, and also offer flamingo tours. From the village there are fabulous sunsets (see also Río Lagartos, Río Lagartos and San Felipe).
San Roque, Campeche

Campeche’s churches are generally more colorful than those of Mérida and central Yucatán. San Roque is an extravagant example of Mexican Baroque, with an opulent altarpiece surrounded by intricate white plasterwork.
Sayil

Of all the Puuc Cities, Sayil is the one that gives the strong-est sense of the wealth of its ancient inhabitants. Its hub is the magnificent Palacio, an opulent complex sweeping up through three levels and over 90 chambers, with an architectural refinement that recalls the buildings of Ancient Greece. It housed over 350 people, from lords to servants, and had its own exclusive water supply.
Sayil

Among the wealthiest of the Puuc towns, with around 17,000 inhabitants in AD 850. Its magnificent Palacio has been likened to ancient Greek buildings. The Mirador pyramid was the center of the town’s market area (see Uxmal).
Teabo

With an air of tranquility, this remote town clusters around its grand and lofty Franciscan church, built in 1650–95. In the sacristy are rare murals of saints, discovered by accident in the 1980s. Teabo is also known for its fine embroidery.
Tekax

Completed in 1692, this huge yet finely proportioned church was built in a lighter style than those of the early Colonial period. The churches at Teabo and Oxcutzcab are similar (see Teabo).
Telchac and Uaymitún

Far west of San Felipe, a road joins the coast to run along it through quiet fishing villages. Seaward, there are endless, often empty, Gulf Coast beaches, while on the landward side is a lagoon full of birds. Telchac is a fishing harbor with fine beaches and a few low-key restaurants and cheap hotels. At Uaymitún there is a free observation tower for bird-watching in the lagoon (see Uaymitún).