A Day At the Iglesias

Ed and I decided to take in some of the sights at the beautiful Catholic churches in Centro. It is such an awesome and incredible feeling to know you are standing in a church that has been there some 400 to 500 years.

Merida Cathedral

Merida Cathedral, known locally as Catedral de San Ildefonso, is a sixteenth century cathedral built by Spanish colonialists. In fact, constructed from 1556 to 1598, Merida Cathedral was the first such cathedral to be built in the inland Americas.
Not only was Merida Cathedral built on the site of the former Maya city of Tiho, it was also constructed from the stones of Maya pyramids

The Church of the Third Order

This landmark was built in the 17th century by the Jesuits. It was attached to that Catholic order's College of St. Francis Xavier, which was founded in 1618.

The walls were handpainted.

Iglesia de Santa Lucia

Construction of Iglesia de Santa Lucía began at the end of the 16th century and ended in 1620.

The atrium operated as a graveyard until 1821.

 La Mejoradan Iglesia

The former Franciscan convent of Our Lady of Transit, also called La Mejorada, from the 17th century. This building has had many different uses, like a hospital, a School of Arts and Crafts, a police prefecture, and lodging for the families of soldiers from military headquarters, before becoming home to the Faculty of Architecture UADY.

All these churches, although hundreds of years in age, are all still used daily for services.

Some other great places we saw while walking around Centro:

A local University was sponsoring chess games for kids.

Teatro Jose Peon Contreras
opened in 1908

A very fun, interesting and educational day!