Izamal is also known as the yellow city and the city of hills. Many of the buildings on the streets through the central part of this city are painted yellow like the convent church in this photo. I used my wide angle lens for this photo and took advantage of capturing a bit of the lens to get this effect. The convent and church are called San Antonio de Padua. When they were built in 1553, this was probably the largest Spanish city in the Yucatan peninsula.
While we were in the church, there was a church service going on so I was unable to get closer for a better photograph of the main altar which has ten niches for depictions of holy figures. In the centre, the largest and most prominant is a statue of the Virgin, the most revered saint of all in the Yucatan. The altar is covered in gold as is obvious from the photo. The statue of the Virgin in the photo was given a crown by a pope in the early 1990’s.
We toured a lot of the convent grounds and the buildings.
The religious order that founded the church and convent was the Franciscans, a religious order that is still present today as seen in this picture of two Franciscan nuns.
Also found in the church when we visited was a crucifiction statue with a Black Christ or ‘Cristo Negro’. This statue is normally found in the village of Sitilpech which is about four kilometres from Izamal. Fortunately for us, we were able to see the statue at the entrance to the church in the yellow city.
Having taken all the pictures that I wanted, it was time to visit the largest Mayan pyramid in Izamal, Kinich Kak Moo. Sitting on a base covering two acres, the pyramid is really a two-level pyramid.
Here you see Maureen climbing up the first level which leads to a large open area which serves as a base for a second pyramid.
This is the second largest Mayan pyramid remaining in the Yucatan. It was built to honour the sun god represented by the fire bird, the Macaw.
The pyramid rises to about 34 metres or 100 feet above the city streets. In this photo, this was as high as I got because of the narrow stone steps that were unfinished. Maureen and Roger made it to the top as was to be expected.
By this time we were starving so it was time to head to a restaurant. We decided to try the restaurant recommended by our neighbour, Kathy, ‘el restauante Kinich’.
While waiting for our lunch, we saw a little hut within the restaurant which was a restaurant that was mostly in a courtyard. Two ladies were busy making tortillas by hand. Of course, Maureen had to take her turn trying out this new skill.
Lunch was enjoyed and then we decided to walk around a bit and enjoy some of the local life while Roger and Suzanne took a horse and buggy ride around the inner part of the city. Then, it was time to return to the hacienda. Tomorrow, another story for another day of our adventures.