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Sierra Gorda Part 6: Tancama's Ball Court and Temple/Palaces in Plaza el Mirador
The pre-hispanic juego de pelota (ball game) was played throughout Mesoamerica. The inhabitants of the region called the Huasteca may have adopted the juego de pelota during their early contacts with...
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Sierra Gorda Part 7: Tancama's Plaza Santiago
The structure bordering the east side of Plaza Santiago contains two huastecos. The circular shape of these structures relates to Ehecatl, the Wind God, who was probably the most important deity at...
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Sierra Gorda Part 8: Tancama's Plaza de la Promesa
Plaza de la Promesa, looking southeast. Three of the circular structures called huastecos surround this plaza. None of them have names, but the large one above the photo's center was designated...
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Sierra Gorda Part 9: The Franciscan Mission in Landa de Matamoros
Church of the Mission, seen through the main entrance gate of its atrium . Mission de Nuestra Señora de la Concepción Purisima (Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception) is located in the town of Landa...
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Sierra Gorda Part 10: Misión San Francisco de Tilaco (Atrium and Facade)
Carole stands at the atrium gate of Mission San Francisco de Tilaco. Through the gate, you can see the facade and bell tower of the church. The mission's cloister is attached to the right side of the...
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Sierra Gorda Part. 11: Tilaco's mission church interior and its cloister
The apse and main altar inside Tilaco's church . The inside of the church is relatively spartan compared to the exuberant facade on its front, seen in Part 10. Mission of San Francisco de Asis del...
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Sierra Gorda Part 12: Tancoyal's Franciscan Mission (exterior features)
A statue of San Francisco de Asis stands beside the atrium gate . The two flower-shaped finials on either side of the statue are among several that are spaced along the low wall surrounding the atrium....
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Sierra Gorda Part 13: Misión San Miguel Concá
Atrium, church, and cloister of Misión San Miguel Concá. The original mission in Concá was established by the Augustinians. However, in 1739 Spanish Col. José Escandon y Helguera reported its poor...
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Sierra Gorda Part 14: The Misión San Miguel Concá church interior
Carole views the mission church at Concá. Previously, in Part 13, I showed and explained the fascinating details of the steeple and facade. I also described the mission's location and history. This...
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Lake Chapala's South Shore revisited - Tizapan el Alto and Mismaloya
A Great White Egret perches at the top of a spindly tree at the water's edge. Great Whites abound along Lake Chapala's shoreline. They are one of two species regularly encountered, the other being the...
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Valladolid Adventures Part 1: A jewel among Yucatan's treasures
Statue on the central fountain of Parque Principal Francisco Cantón Rosado. She is called "La Mestiza"(meaning mixed Spanish and Maya) and wears an embroidered huipil, the traditional garb women in...
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Valladolid Adventures Part 2: Parque Principal, the center of the city's life
A young Yucateca studies her smartphone at the west entrance to the Parque Principal. Like the rest of the world, Mexicans are addicted to their smartphones. From very young children to the elderly,...
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Valladolid Adventures Part 3: Fiesta in the Parque Principal
Dancers with tambourines entertain the crowd at a fiesta. We wandered through Valladolid's Parque Principal one day and found ourselves engulfed by a large, colorful celebration. We were somewhat...
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Valladolid Adventures Part 4: Handicrafts at the Fiesta
A pair of smiling Yucatecas display their wares. They wear the traditional Maya huipil (pronounced "weepeel" and sometimes spelled hipil). More of these garments hang behind them, including some in...
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Valladolid Adventures Part 5: Templo San Servacio
Valladolid's Templo San Servacio is one of the city's most recognizable features. Photos and paintings of the church appear everywhere. There are other colonial-era churches in Valladolid that are as...
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Valladolid Adventures Part 6: Mesón de Marqués, once a Spanish colonial...
Entrance to Hotel Mesón de Marques. A mesón is a colonial-era mansion. Marqués refers to a rank within the Spanish nobility, second only to a duque (duke). The mansion, built in the 17th century, once...
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Valladolid Adventures Part 7: Hacienda San Lorenzo Oxman
A two-wheeled carreta stands in front of the hacienda's casa grande. Carretas were the "pickup trucks" of Mexico from the colonial period well into the 20th century. They were usually pulled by a pair...
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Valladolid Adventures Part 8: Cenote Oxman at Hacienda San Lorenzo
Swimmers frolic in the cool waters of Cenote Oxman. A cenote ("sen-oh-tay") is a freshwater sinkhole in the limestone crust that forms the base of the Yucatan Peninsula. This is one of many cenotes in...
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Valladolid Adventures Part 9: The Walkway of the Friars
The Calzada de los Frailes begins at Los Cinco Calles. A "V" is formed by the intersection between Highway 180 and the Calzada de los Frailes (Walkway of the Friars). This intersection is known locally...
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Valladolid Adventures Part 10: The 16th Century Franciscan Convento de San...
Carole walks up a path toward Valladolid's huge convento. Now a museum, the Convento de San Bernardino de Siena is the second largest convento in Yucatan. The only one larger is in Izamal, which I will...
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Valladolid Adventures Part 11: Convento de San Bernardino de Siena's...
The noria was built 400 years ago to supply water to the Convento. In Spanish, noria translates as "waterwheel". The word originated from an Arabic verb meaning "to groan". This is a reference to the...
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Valladolid Adventures Part 12: Artifacts recovered from the depths of Cenote...
Display of 19th century flintlock muskets recovered from the cenote. It is not unusual for archeologists to discover pre-hispanic artifacts when they dive into Yucatan's deep cenotes. Most of them...
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Valladolid Adventures: Part 13: Convento de San Bernardino de Siena - Church...
The Church Nave & Third Order ChapelNave and main altar of the church. The church has a single nave, ending in an apse. The apse contains the main altar and a huge, floor-to-ceiling altarpiece...
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Valladolid Adventures Part 14: The Magnificent Retablos in the church at...
The apse at the eastern end of the church's nave contains a magnificent altarpiece. The floor-to-ceiling structure, called the retablo mayor, has three columns of niches containing a total of nine...
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Valladolid Adventures Part 15: Convento de San Bernardino de Siena - The...
View of the Convento's bell tower from a courtyard window of the cloister. This cloister is a square, two-story structure with a central courtyard. It adjoins the north side of the church and has...
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