Mérida is the capital city of the state of Yucatan and its largest city and cultural and foody capital of the Yucatan peninsula. Unlike the centre of Mexico, Yucatan has Mayan roots, and 20% of its population speak the Maya language. You will quickly realise that its cuisine and their Spanish dialect are quite different from the rest of Mexico!
One the best reasons to visit Mérida is taste the wonderful Yucatec cuisine. Once you taste authentic cochinita pibil you won’t like it so much anywhere else! And there’s a lot more to taste… we tell you everything in this post!
Brief history of Mérida
On 6th January 1542 Francisco de Montejo, the Younger founded the city of Mérida on top of the ruins of T’Hó, an abandoned ancient Maya city. His father, whose name was also Francisco de Montejo had started 1526 conquering Yucatan with the sanction of King Charles I.
Montejo, the elder, had been one of Hernán Cortés’ strongmen during the conquest of Mexico. In 1519, Cortés sent him as leader of a diplomatic or lobbying mission to Spain.
They named the new city Mérida because the Maya ruins they saw reminded them to the Roman city of Mérida, one of the most important in Spain. Even if Montejo family was originally from Salamanca and lived many years in Seville, many conquistadores came from Extremadura, the region in Western Spain where the original Mérida is.
Mérida became the capital city of the Yucatan colonial administration (Capitanía General del Yucatán), a territory directly administered by the Kingdom of Castile (and only partly by the Viceroyalty of New Spain, whose capital was Mexico City).
Actually, roads with the rest of Mexico were scarce and of poor quality until the mid-20th century, so Mérida had more trade with the Caribbean than with the rest of the country.
Mérida preserves an interesting colonial heritage of renaissance and baroque styles, but it’s not as monumental and impressive than that in Mexico City or Oaxaca.
The city was planned as a grid surrounded by a series of fortified walls to protect the Spanish dwellers from local Mayas. These continued fighting against colonial rule until the 18th c.
Only the innermost of these walls was actually built. Nowadays, only three gates remain of it.
Arriving in Mérida
Mérida international airport (MID) is only 7 km South of the main square of the capital of Yucatan.
It serves direct flights to Mexico City (including low-cost). There are flights to another 10 Mexican cities, as well as Houston, Dallas, Miami, Toronto, Guatemala and Havana.
We visited Mérida as part of a 9-day road trip in Yucatan, so we flew to Cancún, nearly 4 hours by car from Mérida.
Chichén Itzá lies 120 km (1h30) East of Mérida and Campeche is 180 km (2h) South.
Moving around Mérida
In all cities in Yucatan, the streets of Mérida don’t bear names, but numbers, which is actually quite useful for orientation and calculating distances. There are a few exceptions, like the elegant boulevard Paseo de Montejo.
Even streets go North to South, with number 2 in the Eastern limit and numbers growing westerly.
Odd streets go East-West, with no. 1 on the Northern limit and numbers growing South.
The old town of Mérida is a near-perfect grid and its main square is limited by 60th & 62th streets; and 61th & 63th. In there areas, the street plan is not as regular, and street numbering can be less intuitive.
All places of interest are between the 56th and 64th streets, and between 55th and 69th, with the exception of Paseo de Montejo and the Museum of the Maya World (Museo del Mundo Maya). You can easily walk to all these places, except for the museum. There is an urban bus network, which we didn’t use.
Is Mérida safe?
Mérida is known as the safest city in Mexico. Our experience agrees to that idea. We walked in the city centre at night and never perceived any kind of danger.
The only thing drawbacks are the burning sun and tropical humidity, and especially, the agents of handicraft shops. They lure you into their shop with lies – for example, that they only open on that day of the week, or that the shop closes in less than 1 hour so you should go now, or they say it’s a cooperative so you don’t pay intermediaries.
What to see in Mérida in 1 day
Main Square (Plaza Grande)
The main square of Mérida (Plaza Principal or “Plaza Grande”) is the most bustling in the city. At dusk, musicians and artists keep it alive. This square is also the most monumental, with some of the most interesting buildings in Mérida.
The centre of the square is a park with trees and benches, providing much needed shade. There you can take a photo with the letters of Mérida, now a classic in any Mexican city.
The most interesting buildings in the Plaza Principal are the Cathedral and Casa de Montejo, which we will visit now.
Before, on the west side of the square is the 16th-century Palacio Municipal, seat of the city council. On the north, the late-19th century Government Palace (Palacio de Gobierno), keeps its neoclassical simple, respecting the square’s harmony.
Cathedral
The Cathedral of Yucatan, on the east side of Mérida’s Plaza Principal, is the oldest cathedral in mainland America (built in 1561-1598) and the second built in America after Santo Domingo’s.
Its sober renaissance façade and square towers make this cathedral look somehow like a military fortress.
There is nothing special to see in the cathedral’s interior, if you don’t have a special interest for religious icons.
On the right of the main façade you will see Pasaje de la Revolución (Revolution Gallery). It was built in the 1920s demolishing two of the cathedral’s chapels. It usually displays modern art works like this one.
Casa de Montejo
Casa de Montejo is the most interesting building in Mérida’s Plaza Principal, and considered the finest example of plateresque (Spanish renaissance) architecture in Mexico.
Francisco de Montejo “el Adelantado” (the father of the founder of Mérida) ordered it in 1542-1549 as family palace for the Montejos. Then, it made up for the whole south side of the square. Unfortunately, only the main façade of the original building is preserved.
The symbolism of the main gate is all about the Montejo family and the conquest of Yucatan they heralded – on each side of the coat of arms of the Montejo there is a halberdier stepping on two scared Maya heads.
Next to the halberdiers, two smaller “savage men” bear a mace.
On top of the coat of arms there is a frieze with three heads – Montejo “el Mozo” (the founder of Mérida), his wife and his daughter.
Don’t miss the man who sustains the balcony, decorated with 13 children’s faces and the decoration around the door.
Calle 60
Calle 60 (60th Street) is the main artery of Mérida city centre. It runs north to south, and along the east side of Plaza Principal. The most interesting part of Calle 60 is north of the main square.
In Calle 60 and around there are some interesting places, as well as good restaurants (and some other not so good or tourist traps) and handicraft shops. Don’t pay much attention to the agents trying to lure you in a shop and be ready to negotiate prices.
We managed to buy directly to the artisans in their village, a much better experience (and cheaper), but if you don’t have time for that, there are very fine pieces around here.
Just next to Plaza Principal, in the corner of Calle 60 and Calle 59 stands the Jesuit Temple (Templo de la Orden Tercera). Built in the 17th century, it is the most important Baroque temple in Mérida. On its side, Parque Hidalgo is a bustling gardened square.
Between Calle 58 and Calle 59 stands the modern Palace of Mexican Music (Palacio de la Música Mexicana), opened in 2018. This institution promotes Mexican and indigenous music. Its design provides an interesting contrast to the colonial architecture of Mérida city centre.
Back to Calle 60, we continue walking north to find Teatro Peón Contreras, early 20th century neoclassic with a luxurious Carrara marble staircase. Across, the University of Yucatan, continuation of the famed jesuit college from the 17th c. The building was completely rebuilt in 1941 in neocolonial style.
On the corner with Calle 55 is Parque de Santa Lucía, a very pleasant square, especially at night. It’s a great place to have a drink or dinner outside while you listen to street musicians. On Sundays it hosts a handicrafts market.
Parque de la Mejorada
If you have time, you can walk through Calle 59, east of Plaza Principal, where you will find some interesting neoclassical buildings. On the crossing with Calle 50 you will arrive in Parque de la Mejorada, one of the iconic squares in Mérida.
It takes its name from Convento de la Mejorada, a 17th-century monastery, which now houses the Architecture School of the University of Yucatan.
Very close to Parque de la Mejorada, in Calle 50, stand two of the gates of the old city wall: Arco de los Dragones (Dragons’ Arch) and Arco del Puente (Bridge’s Arch).
Parque de Santiago
Barrio de Santiago is another picturesque quarter where you can go for a walk if you have time. It is one of the oldest in Mérida old town. It lies on the West of Plaza Principal along Calle 59.
The main square of the neighbourhood is Parque de Santiago, which features a very picturesque 17th c. colonial church. This square has a very local touch, and a market where you can taste some local street food and agua de chaya (a drink made from chaya, aka spinach tree, an autochtonous green plant).
Paseo de Montejo
In 1888, Paseo de Montejo was planned as a monumental boulevard in the northern expansion district of Mérida, north of Calle 47 and between Calle 56 and Calle 58. Paseo de Montejo was officially finished in 1906 when president Porfirio Díaz visited the city.
Paseo de Montejo is an elegant European-style avenue. Its urban planning and neoclassical palaces are reminiscnet of the Champs-Elysées in Paris or Mexico City’s Paseo de la Reforma, albeit at a much smaller scale. At the beginning of the boulevard stands a monument to the two first Montejos, “el Mozo” and “el Adelantado“.
One of the most iconic buildings in Paseo de Montejo is Palacio Cantón Rosado, in no. 43, now Regional Anthropology Museum.
Paseo de Montejo is a pleasant boulevard to walk by, despite the traffic, with nice bars, restaurants and ice cream shops, as well as many fashion shops.
But the most original structure in Paseo de Montejo is on its northern tip – Monumento a la Patria (Monument to the Motherland). The best time to visit it is before sunset.
It was built in 1945–1956 by Columbian artist Rómulo Rozo. Its style is a mixture of art déco and neo-maya. It represents the history of Mexico and it is claimed that it is the only monument in the world completely carved directly in stone.
A 14-metre figure of a mestiza woman is the axis of the monument. She is wearing a jade necklace, snail earrings and a pectoral of feathered serpents. There is a lot more symbolism around the central statue, but we won’t go into it.
On each side of the statue, along the monument’s circumference, some characters carry signs with important events and laws of 20th century Mexican history (1910 Revolution, 1917 Constitution, oil expropriation, etc.)
Don’t miss the back part! A ceiba, sacred tree the Maya considered the axis of the Earth, dominates the centre.
On its right, scenes from Ancient Mexico, the conquest and mestizaje (intermixing). Some important figures are Hernández de Córboda, conquistador who arrived in Yucatán in 1517 and Father Bartolomé de las Casas, a great defender of the rights of the indigenous peoples.
Left of the ceiba, Aztecs make offerings to Cuauhtémoc, last huey tlatoani of Tenochtitlan and to some Spanish characters.
You can visit all these places in one day, taking a break to taste an marvellous cochinita pibil cooked traditionally in a pib oven (underground) and other delicious Yucatec dishes in Museo de la Gastronomía Yucateca (Mugy) and have some lighter antojitos for dinner.
We will come to food in a minute – but before leaving Mérida the Great Museum of Maya World (Gran Museo del Mundo Maya) is definitely wotrh visiting.
Gran Museo del Mundo Maya
The Great Museum of the Maya World is on the northern extension of Calle 60, 8 km from Mérida’s Plaza Principal. Its modern seign is insipired on the ceiba, the sacred Maya tree.
The museum was opened on 21th December 2012, the last day of the 13th baktun (a cycle of 144 000 days, approximately 394 years) in the Maya Long Count calendar
It was often stated that the Maya had predicted the end of the world on that date. But this was actually a misconception, what the Maya believed is that this world was created after 13 baktuns since the previous creation.
The end of the 13th baktun (the beginning of day 13.0.0.0.0 in the Long Count) would have certainly been a big celebration for classical mayas, but there is no proof that they believed it to be the end of the world. Their calendar would continue working perfectly (it was positional, base 20). There are actually, maya steles with much later dates.
We really wanted to visit Gran Museo del Mundo Maya, but it was closed during our visit to Mérida due to COVID-19 restrictions. Fortunately, the museum has reopened in early 2022, Wed-Mon from 9 am to 5 pm. Foreigners pay MX$150 (€6.50/ US$7.20).
If you want to know more, visit their official website: https://www.granmuseodelmundomaya.com.mx/
Eating in Mérida
Let’s talk seriously now about one of the best reasons to visit Mérida: tasting the authentic Yucatec cuisine!
Yucatan cuisine is quite different to that of other regions of Mexico. Its most representative dish, at least the most famous worldwide, is cochinita pibil. But only in Yucatan you can taste the authentic one – and, trust us, it has nothing to do with what you’ve tried before elsewhere.
To prepare cochinita pibil, piglet (cochinita) is marinated with achiote (an reddish pigment from seeds of a tropical bush) and then baked with bitter oranges, habanero chilies and other spices traditionally in a pib oven (hence pibil). Pib (or píib, in Maya) is a traditional Maya underground oven.
The meat is wrapped in banana leaves and is introduced in a large metal tin with its recado (marinade). The tin is placed on embers prepared in a hole in the earth, it is buried and left to cook until the next day. The meat is really tender and it’s served with red onion.
Even in Mérida, and elsewhere in Yucatan, it is not easy to find a place where cochinita is cooked with this ancient technique, except during the Day of the Dead (Día de muertos) celebrations, when cochinita pibil is a staple.
This is why you really have to go to Museo de la Gastronomía Yucateca (Mugy), to taste it and see how they prepare it.
But it’s not only about the pib oven – there is an even more important factor that it’s always respected in Yucatan (and rarely elsewhere): cochinita here is only cooked with the autochtonous pig variety, the Mexican creole hairless pig. Its meat is somewhere between pork and boar.
Really, a cochinita in Yucatan has nothing todo with what you can taste in Mexico City – even less with what’s served in other countries. And it is really one of the most beautiful plates in Mexican cuisine, so you cannot leave Yucatan without tasting it!
Another very representative recipe from Yucatan that is also cooked in a pib oven is Relleno negro. This is turkey cooked with recado negro, served with a boiled egg and but (a kind pork meatball with egg, tomato and a dash of chili).
Recado negro is a black marinade made from a mixture of spices, more liquid than a mole, whose main ingredients are roasted ancho chilies, cumin, black pepper or Jamaica pepper and garlic.
Another common dish of Yucatec cuisine is Poc Chuc (pork loin cut in small pieces and marinated with bitter oranges, garlic and black pepper and grilled). Another classic are papadzules – maize tortillas stuffed with boiled egg and covered with a sauce of pumpkin seeds, tomatoes and habanero chili.
Yucatan also has a contribution to the rich Mexican vocabulary when it comes to tortillas, with its panuchos (a maize tortilla filled with bean paste and fried) and salbutes the same, but without bean paste). Put some Poc Chuc or Relleno negro on top an enjoy! (Cochinita is so delicate, we prefer a full order with normal tortillas).
Surprisingly for a place when a day under 20 ºC is rare, food in Yucatán is quite heavy. On Mondays, every menu features beans and pork stew (frijoles con puerco). On Wednesdays the staple is a delicious heritage of Spanish cuisine: beef tripe with chickpeas (mondongo a la andaluza, in Spain we call it callos con garbanzos).
Now we will tell you two places in Mérida where you are guaranteed to taste real authentic Yucatec cuisine, both recommended by our Mexican friend and great foody @desviajados. We enjoyed them very much and recommend them to all our readers.
Mugy (Museo de la Gastronomía Yucateca, that is Museum of Yucatec Cuisine) is one of the few places in Mérida where the pib underground oven is used all year round.
Thus, we think it is a place you must visit in Mérida. Its location is very central, on 62th Street, between 55th and 57th, so there is no excuse to miss it! All food pictures in this post are from Mugy, so you see it all looks (and tastes) delicious!
We recommend you to visit Mugy a bit before 3 pm, because at that time they unearth one of their pib ovens – usually, but not always, it’s cochinita pibil. These ovens are in a courtyard with some huts around them where you can see Maya women preparing the tortillas you will eat later.
Mugy cooks four recipes in pib oven: cochinita pibil, relleno negro, piglet (lechón) and turkey in escabeche (a Spanish marinade with vinegar and garlic, but Yucatán style, i.e. with xcatic chilies). We ordered a plate of cochinita pibil and panuchos with relleno negro. Absolutely wonderful!
They also have a very interesting cocktail menu, with many locally inspired cocktails. And the price is great for the quality of the dishes (Mérida is also much cheaper than Oaxaca or Mexico City) – around MX$250-300 per person (US$12-14 / €10-13).
La Pequeña Susana (Calle 26, no. 293, between Av. Alemán and Calle 19) lies northeast of Mérida city centre, 1.7 km away from the end of Paseo de Montejo.
Even if the location is not so convenient, you won’t regret it if you go! La Pequeña Susana is local stuff. This restaurant stand out and we wouldn’t have gone or entered if our friend wouldn’t have recommended it… but everything we tried was delicious! And very cheap, you can eat well for 150 pesos (US$7 / €6.50) per person.
Around Mérida: Uxmal
There are several interesting places to visit around Mérida, but there is one you really cannot miss: the ancient Maya city of Uxmal.
Only 80 km South of Mérida (a one-hour drive), Uxmal is one of the most impressive archaeological sites in Mexico, one of the main reasons to visit Mérida. Uxmal was our favourite archaeological site in Mexico, we liked it a lot more than super-famous Chichén Itzá. You must visit it if you travel to Yucatan!
If you want to know more about Uxmal, click here to read our post about Uxmal Archaeological Site, where we tell you all about it!
