Road Trip to the Yucatan - Day 1 The Grand Plaza

My list of potential things to see in Merida was pretty long.  I could have rushed around to see them all.  But I chose to go slow and more fully enjoy the bits I did get to see. One of the highlights was the Grand Plaza.

The Grand Plaza is a public garden/square with vendors, trees, and park benches.  I visited two buildings around the plaza.  The first was the Catedral de San Ildefonso.  Built in 1598, it is the first cathedral built in North America.  Wikipedia says it was built on the site of a former Mayan temple, with some stones from the temple.  Some folks said.... the Spanish destroyed the Mayan temple to build the church. The inside of the cathedral is mostly plain because angry peasants stripped the rich decorations that were once there, during the Mexican Revolution.

The second building I visited was the Palacio de Gobierno,  the Yucatan State Government building. It was built in 1892.  On the second floor, there was a beautiful big hall with huge paintings that portrayed the history of the Maya and their interaction with the Spaniards.  There was once a lot of conflict, but it seems like now there is mostly reconciliation.  About 200,000 people in Merida still speak Maya. When we visited the Palacio, about 30 people were banging pots and pans outside to demonstrate against some government policies.  Good on them!  But the poor security guards out front of the Palacio.....I think they said the demonstration had been going on for some time.  Maybe years????

At night, there was a lovely sound and light show in the plaza/projected on the cathedral.  They had also hauled out a grand piano for evening entertainment!

Photos
1- The cathedral with some of the sound and light show images.  The butterflies moved around.  It was pretty.
2- The inside of the cathedral.  Everything was massive!  But definitely plain.
3- There were 3 of these "random" doors in the cathedral.  This one had a picture of a Pope on it.  It might be a Holy Door.  Google says....  a Holy Door is a door located within each Roman Catholic Diocese that is sealed except for designated days, when pilgrims can walk through them  to receive "indulgences". The Pope might be John Paul 2(?) who visited the cathedral in 1993.
4 - The security guards at the Palacio de Gobierno.  You can see the protestors outside and the Grand Plaza beyond.  It's very green and pretty.
5 - Inside the big hall in the Palacio de Gobierno.
6 - A man determined to move a lot of fruit with a small cart, near the Grand Plaza

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