Valladolid Adventures Part 11: Convento de San Bernardino de Siena's remarkable 17th century water system.

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 sound a noria made when operating. The waterwheel mechanism once contained in the structure above is long gone. The term noria is used today to refer to the structure which housed it.  

When it was built, this was the second largest noria in Yucatan. The only one larger was located in the pueblo of Mamá. In its time, this noria was considered a marvel of 17th century hydraulic engineering. In Part 11 of this series, I will show you the exterior and interior of the noria and explain how it worked. In addition I'll describe the Cenote Ziis-Há, quoting from the accounts of people who visited over the centuries. 

Overview

Schematic showing the location of the noria within the Convento complex. The circular structure is located just east of the north end of the complex. It is 14m (46ft) in diameter.  The large oval outlines surrounding the noria indicate the perimeter of the Cenote Ziis-Há. This water-filled sink hole is entirely underground, except for four openings, one of which is under the noria. On the west side of the cenote's perimeter, you can see a short thick line and a square dot. These represent the ruins of the Convento's old kitchen. 

In 1584, a high official in the Franciscan Order named Alonso Ponce noted that the cenote was "very deep and wide" and that "growing in it are many small but very tasty bagre  (catfish)." Evidently, he had spent some time at the dining table of the Convento's refectory. A century later, in 1688, a Franciscan friar named Diego López de Cogolludo published his Historía de Yucatan. In it, he includes a description of the cenote. "The space occupied by the water underneath is rather vast, some say as big as two blocks of houses." For more about Yucatan's cenotes, see Part 8. 

Ruins of the kitchen. In the diagram, the short thick line represents the wall on the right side of the arched doorway. The dot is the section of the wall on the doorway's left side. The noria structure can be seen on the far right. In Part 10, I described the bountiful orchard and vegetable garden that was watered by the noria. No doubt Alonso Ponce also enjoyed access to all those fruits and vegetables during his visit. 

In addition, the Convento raised cattle, which could consume as much as 20 gallons of water each day. The cattle were both for sale and to provide meat for the friars' table. So, with their access to beef, catfish, and a wide variety of fruits and vegetables, the friars certainly ate well, despite their vows of poverty. 

The Noria

Carved into the limestone wall is the date 1613. Above the date is the word Año, which means "year". 1613 was when the structure was completed. A visitor named Antonio de Ciudad Real mentioned an earlier noria when he visited in 1588. He wrote about "water that comes from the noria, which is almost next to the convent wall and is built on a very large cenote..." However, the original noria was probably a much smaller and more primitive version. That one eventually proved inadequate, leading to its replacement in the early 17th century. 

View of the east side of the noria. Using a wheel to move water is a very old technology. Ancient texts from Mesopotamia mention using waterwheels for irrigation. In the 3rd and 4th centuries BC, the technology spread through trade networks to India, Rome, Greece, and Egypt. During Europe's Dark Ages, Muslim engineers in Spain and the Middle East made various improvements to the ancient device. By the 9th century AD, Christian monasteries in Europe had begun using norias to free up the time of monks for contemplation and study. 

After the discovery of the New World in 1492, norias began appearing in Spanish settlements in the Caribbean. Yucatan's conquest in the mid-1540s led to waterwheels being used to draw water from the cenotes. Franciscan monasteries were among the first to do this. Immediately following the establishment of the Convento de San Bernardino de Siena in 1552, water was probably still pulled up by hand at first. Sometime prior to 1588, the friars installed their first noria, eventually replacing it in 1613 with the structure seen above.

Artist's depiction of one of Yucatan's norias*. The mechanism at the Convento would have been similar in design, but much larger. The vertical wheel has several buckets which are secured to the wheel by ropes. They scoop up water from the cenote as the wheel revolves and, when a bucket reaches the top of the cycle, its water empties into a trough below. From there, using channels and pipes, it is directed to where it can be collected. 

The waterwheel is geared to a horizontal wheel, which is powered by a burro walking around the 44m circumference of the structure. This explains the circular form of the early animal- driven norias. The mechanism was originally constructed using wood, rope, and ceramic buckets. Eventually, metal buckets replaced the ceramic ones and metal brackets replaced the ropes. The two main drawbacks to the noria were spillage when the water drops from the bucket to the trough and friction when the water is scooped up. Neither of those problems prevented norias from being used well into the 20th century.

*From "La Noria, a Hydrologic Technology of Yucatan", by Nina S. Williams, New Mexico State University, Dec. 2013

Detail of the massive limestone structure. The metal fence is a modern safety device. The walls and buttresses show building practices typical of the early 17th century. These include the use of rough, un-cut stone, held together with mortar. Shaped stone blocks and clay bricks did not come into regular use until later. 

A steady water supply for human consumption was not the noria's only purpose. Readily available water also enabled food preparation, regular cleaning of the Convento, and water for the orchard and cattle. 

An animal-driven noria required only a single worker, instead of large teams of Mayas toting clay pots. The noria worker's only job was to make sure the burro kept moving, a task even a child could do. This labor-saving advantage was important because plagues reduced the native workforce by almost 90% during the 16th and 17th centuries. 

Water from the cenote fills a channel along the side of the noria. The Maya were no doubt impressed by this labor-saving mechanical marvel. However, there is more to the story than that. The Maya had always lived near cenotes as a matter of survival, since there are no other sources of water in northern Yucatan. 

The Franciscan friars pursued a strategy called congregación as a key part of the "Spiritual Conquest".  Native populations were persuaded, and if necessary forced, to "congregate" in large villages where they could be evangelized and Catholic religious observance could be enforced.

The root of the noria is supported by several massive arches. The original vigas (rafters), were made of tree branches. They can still be seen supporting the ceiling. As noted, the machinery of the noria has long since been removed. What is left inside is a large open area with a grate covering the opening to the cenote where the waterwheel once sat. There are six large arched windows around the walls that provide light and air.

The Spanish authorities saw that control of key cenotes would not only ensure their own water access, but would enable them to control the native population and make it easier to congregate them. The Spanish said this was in the interests of spreading Christianity and the benefits of Spanish culture. Many of the Maya did not see it the same way. 

View through one of the arched windows.  The building in the left background is the north wall of the cloister. The wall just beyond the palm was part of the ruined kitchen. 

The Maya had freely used the cenotes for millennia and resented Spanish attempts to control them. In addition, the cenotes were important to their ancestral religion. Resentment increased when the friars began to destroy Maya religious shrines and burn their ancient hieroglyphic libraries. Even more tension resulted from Spanish seizures of traditional Maya lands to build haciendas and to impose forced labor under the encomienda system.

Ruins of an unknown structure. This may have been part of the kitchen. Some of the trees around this old ruin were probably part of the original orchard, planted by the friars back in the 16th century. Several geese can be seen near the base of this structure.

Under the encomienda system, the Spanish King granted Spaniards the right to demand tribute, including forced labor, from the inhabitants of native villages. This was in return for Christian instruction and military protection. It was a good deal, as long as you were on the right end of it. Most early colonial religious structures were built under the encomienda system, including the noria at Convento de San Bernardino de Siena.

A peacock wandered by as I was photographing the noria. Like the turkey seen in the previous posting, this fellow roamed around freely. He seemed curious about me and tagged along as I took my photos. Peacocks originated in the subcontinent of India and did not arrive in Mexico until they were brought by the Spanish in the 16th century.

This completes Part 11 of my Valladolid Adventures series. I hope you have enjoyed it. If so, please leave any thoughts or questions in the Comments section below or email me directly. If you leave a question, please include your email address so that I can respond in a timely manner.

Hasta luego, Jim

 

Valladolid Adventures Part 10: The 16th Century Franciscan Convento de San Bernardino de Siena

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 show later in this series. The structure above was once used as the Franciscan headquarters for evangelization in eastern Yucatan. It has the same fortress appearance that I remarked upon in my posting on Templo San Servacio in Valladolid. Like  the Templo, this convento was the site of several fierce battles during Yucatan's tumultuous history.

In previous posting (Part 9), I focused on the Calzada de los Frailes (Walkway of the Friars). That is the old pathway followed by the Franciscan friars when they traveled back and forth between the Convento and Valladolid's plaza area. In Part 10, the present posting, I'll show you the Convento's exterior. Accompanying the photos will be some of the history, including quotes from people who visited over the centuries. 

In Part 11, I'll show the Convento's  famous 17th century Noria (water works). Part 12 will be about the amazing artifacts found at the bottom of the deep cenote under the Noria. In Part 13, I will take you through the maze-like interior of the complex to view its artwork. The Convento, as you will see, is a fabulous place to visit.

Overview

Google satellite view of the Convento. The Calzada de los Frailes can be seen angling in from the upper right. The complex occupies an area of 14,121 square meters (15,443 square yards). Some of the trees surrounding the Calzada are the famous ceibas described by colonial visitors as lining both sides of the street almost all the way to Valladolid's plaza. However, only the ones seen above remain. The rest were cut down to make room for the colonial-era mansions that now line the street. The wooded area in the lower right used to be the orchard described in the previous posting. 

Floor plan of the Convento. The top of the plan above is north, the direction from which we approached. In the center is the church, which is shown as a horizontal rectangle that is curved at one end where the apse and altar are located. The cloister, where the friars lived and worked, is attached to the church on its north side. The cloister is a square, two-story structure with arcades along each side on both levels. These are supported by columns (shown as a square set of dots). 

The west (left) side of the plan has a vertical row of dots, representing the columns of the long arcade that runs along the front of the complex. At either end of the arcade are chapels. Also included in the complex are the refectory (dining area), several atriums (areas that are enclosed but open to the sky), and an open-air chapel for use by the native people. Finally, there is the Noria (waterworks),  located behind the northeast end of the complex. It was built over the Ziis-há cenote. You can see the perimeter of the cenote, most of which is underground. The ruins of the Convento's kitchen are adjacent to the cenote.

Exterior features.

The front of the Convento complex faces west. This was standard practice for Catholic churches, for reasons I explained in my post on Valladolid's Templo San Servacio. The church is the tallest structure seen in the center. The long frontal arcade has three portales to the left of the main entrance and four to the right. A chapel is located on either end of the arcade. The two-story structure on the left side of the church is the cloister. 

In 1562, a Maya named Nakuk Pech wrote the Chronical of Chac Xulub Chen which described the early years of the post-conquest period. "In the year 1551, Friar Fernando Guerrero came from Valladolid to Sisal and he baptized the people and introduced Christianity here, into all the territory of Valladolid west of Chels. In the year 1552 the fathers settled here at Sisal. They came from the west to teach and sing mass vespers with the singing of the organ and flute and the canto llano, which never before did we know here."  

The frontal arcade, looking toward the chapel at its south end. The work on the basic structures of the Convento lasted from 1552 to 1560, a fairly rapid project as these things go. Three Franciscan friars supervised the construction. They were Juan de Mérida, Hernando de Guevara, and Francisco de la Torre. The most important of these was Juan de Mérida. He was a former conquistador who "gave up the sword" to become a Franciscan friar after the founding of the city Mérida in 1542. A trained architect, Juan de Mérida also built that city's cathedral, as well as the huge conventos at Izamal and Mani.

The arcade above was added to the front of the Convento during the last half of the 17th century. On February 20, 1678, a plaque was placed on the wall commemorating its completion. There is a chapel on either end of the arcade. The one on the south is dedicated to the Santo Sepulcro (Holy Sepulchre) and was designated for use by the Maya. At the arcade's north end is a chapel with a shrine to the Virgen de Guadalupe. This one was set aside for the Spanish. I found this arrangement a little ironic, since the Virgen de Guadalupe is considered the special Patron of indigenous and poor people.

Rear of the church showing the outside walls of the apse (altar area). The high stone walls with crenelations along the tops give the structures a castle-like appearance. Some of these walls are more than 10m (30ft) tall and 1m (3ft) thick. In fact, the Convento was used as a fortress several times over the centuries, particularly during various Maya uprisings. In a future posting of this series, I will show some of the artifacts of these battles that were recovered on the grounds of the Convento.

The area behind the Convento was once covered by a lush orchard. According to the 1588 account of Antonio de Ciudad Real, "In that convent garden are raised bananas, alligator pears, guavas, and all kinds of oranges, pitayas, pineapples, grapes, and a great deal of fine garden stuff. All is watered with water that comes from the noria built on a very large Zonote which is below ground." While the friars were pledged to a life of poverty and simplicity, they certainly ate well!

One of several atriums on the Convento's grounds. An atrium is a large space next to a colonial church which is enclosed but open to the sky. It is used for outdoor religious events and processions. Atriums were particularly important in Franciscan conventos because they were often used for mass conversions. There were usually far more native people who attended these events than could fit inside the church. Carole can be seen standing in the shadow of the palms next to the atrial cross. Notice the rough pieces of limestone used by the Maya masons to construct the walls in the 16th century.

The atrial cross. Stand-alone crosses like this are usually found in atriums. They are used during outdoor religious activities. While this one is undecorated, atrial crosses that I have seen elsewhere are covered by religious symbols, usually relating to the Passion of Jesus (events leading to the crucifixion). This secluded atrium has a quiet serenity that I found particularly attractive. Although I am not religious myself, I can understand why friars and other religious people might come here to engage in deep contemplation. 

While I was deep in my own contemplations, this fellow wandered by. In my travels into the far reaches of Mexico' over the last 18 years, animals have always been present. Sometimes these have included cattle and horses, at other times goats and pigs, occasionally iguanas, and always dogs. Quite often, it has included turkeys. This one is a magnificent specimen. He was not penned up, but just casually roamed around the grounds. Turkeys are native to North America and Yucatan has its own wild species, called Meleagris ocellata. However, the one above appears to be a domesticated variety. 

This completes Part 10 of my Valladolid Adventures series. I hope you have enjoyed it. If so, please leave any thoughts or questions in the Comments section below or email me directly. If you leave a question, please include your email address so that I can respond in a timely manner.

Hasta luego, Jim

 

I

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 as Los Cinco Calles (The Five Streets). The Calzada proceeds off to the left, in the direction where the Volkswagen is pointed. A four block walk takes you to the massive Convento de San Bernardino de Siena. That was the headquarters for Franciscan evangelization in eastern Yucatan from 1552 to 1755. The Calzada was created for the use of the Convento's friars when they visited Valladolid.

The house above once belonged to Don Marcial Vidal, a merchant and owner of the nearby Hacienda San Gregorio. He was a hero of the "First Spark", the name given to an uprising in Valladolid on June 4, 1910. That spark was snuffed out after four days of bloody fighting. It actually pre-dated the formal beginning of the Mexican Revolution, which erupted on November 20, 1910. It is not clear what happened to Vidal after the defeat. If he was not one of those killed in the fighting, he either escaped with his life and little else, or he was captured. If captured, he almost certainly would have faced an immediate firing squad. 

The route from Parque Principal to Convento de San Bernardino de Siena. At the southwest corner of the Parque Principal (upper right) you can see a small cross. This marks the location of Templo San Servacio. From there, proceed west along Highway 180 for two blocks to Los Cinco Calles. The left fork is Calzada de los Frailes, which takes you directly to the Convento (see red pointer).

In this posting, I will show you the Calzada and relate some of its history through the eyes of people who walked it over the centuries. Some were Franciscans and some were visitors passing through the area. All of them wrote down their impressions and these illustrate some of the changes to the Calzada de los Frailes over a period of 400 years.

Plaque on wall of Don Maciel Vidal's house. This was placed on the wall more than 100 years before Sr. Vidal's heroic role in the First Spark and long before his family owned the house. Its purpose was to commemorate the reconstruction of the Calzada in 1801. The plaque contains the names of several high public and Church officials. The last person at the bottom is a Captain of Artillery named D. Ygnacio Ribaz, who supervised the construction of the road. 

It seemed odd to me, at first, for an Artillery captain to be in charge. However, it occurred to me that such officers needed to be good mathematicians to set ranges for their weapons and to have the engineering skills to build gun emplacements. Building a road would have been a fairly simple exercise for Capitán Ribaz. The laborers who did the actual work would have included native Maya from Sisal and possibly some Ladinos (mixed Maya and Spanish) from Valladolid. It is unlikely that any self-respecting Spaniard would wield a shovel.

The Calzado is lined with mansions built in the colonial-era and the 19th century. Some are now boutique stores and fashionable restaurants. The yellow building on the right is one of those former mansions and now houses Restaurant Calzada, which specializes in ice cream and pasteries. Directly across the street is a mansion which is still a private home. It has a plaque stating that this is "La Casa de Mamá Chelly" (Mama Chelly's house).

While this has became a fashionable neighborhood in the 21st century, the original 16th century pathway was a dirt track and there were no houses lining it. The land on either side would have been dotted with Maya farms. The Convento, at the far end of the Calzada, was situated in the Maya village of Ziiz-há, a name that refers to the cold water of the nearby cenote. The Spanish version of the village's name became "Sisal". The village was outside, but not far from, the ancient city of Zaci, which was renamed Valladolid in 1545 by the conquistador Francisco Montejo el Sobrino. 

Another former mansion.  This one appears to have been broken up into a couple of apartments, with a fashionable women's clothing store in between. Most of the old mansions in Valladolid are single story buildings with flat roofs. It is hard to say how large any of these houses are, since they may continue back from the street for a considerable distance and might even contain an open courtyard. 

In 1549, ownership of the village of Sisal was awarded to a Spaniard named Baltazar Callejo de Montenegro, for his service as a conquistador. Thirty years later it was still owned by one of his descendants, Baltazar de Montenegro. In 1606, Baltazar de Gallegos was listed as the owner. It is not clear if he was part of the same family or just shared a popular first name. By the end of the 18th century, the town had become the property of the Spanish Crown. In spite of all these Spanish owners, as late as 1805 only Mayas lived in Sisal. Up to then, it was still a separate, indigenous village village outside Valladolid's city walls.

This old mansion stands about a block from the Convento. The cross over the door on the right might indicate a connection with the Convento complex, or it might just be a statement of religious reverence by a current or previous owner. During our walk along the Calzado, I noticed several other buildings with elaborately painted crosses over their doors. Sometime before this shot was taken, the mansion above was divided into several apartments. 

In 1588, a Franciscan historian named Antonio de Ciudad Real (1551-1617) wrote about the area. His description shows that the Calzada hadn't changed much during the previous 36 years. He wrote that "from the convent to the town there leads a road, closed on both sides with ceiba trees, which are tall and thick and resemble the black poplar of Spain." 

A food vendor on a tricycle cart shelters in the shade of a ceiba near the Convento. In the mid-17th century a Franciscan named Diego Lopez de Cogolludo (1613-1665) visited. His description shows that the Calzada had been graded and paved. "To go to the convent from town, one has to take a road of eight varas wide (note: approx. 22 ft), made of stone and lime, with a parapet and bordered on both sides with trees called ceibas which are very tall and thick and provide shade. In spite of being far, the convent is visited often by the inhabitants (of Valladolid) who are followers of our saintly religion." 

By 1841, there had been major changes to the Calzada de los Frailes. That year, American explorer John Lloyd. Stephens described "a long street with great mansions along both sides, leading directly to the house of Don Pedro Baranda, one of the largest and best in the city." Baranda was a 19th century business man in Valladolid who set up the first steam-powered factory in Mexico. His house is the same one later owned by Don Marcial Vidal, hero of the First Spark. Since Stephens makes no mention of the tall ceibas, they must have been cut down by the time he and his English partner Frederick Catherwood passed through.

 

Convento de San Bernardino de Siena, viewed from its north end. At this point, you have reached the end of the Calzado de los Frailes. The street curves to the right and becomes  Calle 49. From this direction, the Convento didn't look as large as it had been described. At first, I was not certain if we had found it. That turned out to be an optical illusion, as you will see in the next posting. Historical markers are off to the left, just out of sight. It is always useful to consult signs like those because they often contain hard-to-find details and are often in both Spanish and English, as these were.

Today, the Calzada appears much the same as when Stephens described it. It is still lined with single-story colonial-era mansions, although many are now restaurants or boutique stores. There are no ceiba trees until you reach the Convento grounds. Modern day visitors can join a guided walk along the Calzada de los Frailes to see a light show at the Convento. It is held on Friday and Saturday evenings at 8:00 PM.

This completes Part 9 of my Valladolid Adventures series. Parts 10, 11, and 12 will focus on various aspects of the great Franciscan Convento. I hope you have enjoyed this posting. If so, please leave any thoughts or questions in the Comments section below or email me directly. If you leave a question, please include your email address so that I can respond in a timely fashion.

Hasta luego, Jim 

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 northern Yucatan, including several within or very close to the city of Valladolid. This one has become a very popular tourist destination for several reasons. 

Among these are its location, only about 5 km (3 mi) from the center of the city. In addition, the site is within the grounds of the beautifully preserved Hacienda San Lorenzo Oxman (see Part 7 of this series). The cenote is also on the tourist bus route coming from the ancient Maya city of Chichen Itza. 

In this posting, I'll show you how to get to the cenote and take you deep inside it, all the way down  to the the water's surface. I'll also explain the origin and nature of cenotes and the roles they played in the lives of people from pre-hispanic times, through the colonial period, and up to the present day.

The cenote is in the southwest corner of the hacienda (see red pointer). You will find a map and explanation of how to reach Hacienda San Lorenzo Oxman in Part 7 of this series. From the highway, you approach the hacienda along the smoothly-graded dirt road seen at the bottom center of the photo. Drive to the parking area in the upper right quadrant. 

The entrance to the property is along the walkway that begins next to the orange-roofed structure at the top of the photo. Walk down this to the casa grande (center), then past the swimming pool. A short distance beyond it is the entrance of the tunnel leading down into the cenote. Before entering the tunnel, walk over to the barrier along the edge and take a look at the impressive depth of this sinkhole.

Entrance to Cenote Oxman. Notice the small sign to the right of the door. It warns you that there are 73 steps down to the bottom. Those with mobility issues should take notice. When I was there, there was no ramp for wheelchairs, but that was several years ago and things might have changed. The hours when the cenote is open are 10 AM to 5 PM. If you would like a tranquil experience, it is best to arrive in the morning because the tourist buses from Chichen Itza pull in about mid-day and disgorge a flood of visitors.

The price of admission, just to swim in the cenote, is $150 pesos ($7.50 USD). You also have the option of paying $250 pesos ($12.50 USD) for a package. This includes access to the cenote, a $200 peso credit ($10.00 USD) toward a meal at the on-site restaurant, and access to the swimming pool. Keep in mind that everything is "cash only," which means pesos only.

The tunnel has flat areas as well as various flights of steps. It is fairly gloomy in places. The tunnel is bright here only because of my flash. Speaking of cameras, one of my sources bemoaned the fact that he neglected to bring an underwater camera, because he found the views below the surface to be wonderful. I wasn't planning to swim, so my Nikon was just fine for my purposes. I didn't notice whether underwater cameras were available for sale at the hacienda, but the proprietor is missing a bet if he doesn't stock them. However, you can always bring your own or pick one up inexpensively in Valladolid before you come.

Mineral-filled droplets of water have created stalactites from the overhanging walls. There are many of these along the path and some are quite impressive. The whole Yucatan Peninsula is a thick, flat crust of limestone. It was created when the area was at the bottom of a shallow sea. Over millions of years, tiny creatures in the water died and their remains sank to the bottom. These gradually built up into the limestone crust. The crust is on, or just under, the surface in most places. The subsurface limestone is covered by a shallow layer of earth built up from decaying vegetation. 

Light and easily worked, limestone has been the most plentiful building material on the Peninsula for thousands of years. Another important feature of limestone is its porosity. This means that rainwater doesn't stay on the surface for long but seeps down until it meets a level it can't penetrate. At that point, it forms underground lakes and rivers. Some cenotes are connected to each other by these rivers. Some of the underwater caverns are extensive. One has been mapped for a length of 376 km (234 miles)!

Stalactites are not the only thing hanging down in the cenote. Above-ground plants and trees send down roots seeking water wherever they can find it. Both the seeping water and the action of the roots tend to widen existing cracks that let in more water. This causes weaknesses in the limestone. Cenotes are underground pools whose roofs have collapsed because of  these weaknesses. Scientists have found limestone sinkholes in many places around the world and have long understood how they were created. However, the presence in northern Yucatan of as many as 10,000 cenotes puzzled researchers for a long time. 

The connection between the Chicxulub crater and Yucatan's cenotes. In the 1970s scientists discovered the Chicxulub crater, just off the northwest coast of Yucatan. They  believe it was caused by the meteorite strike that occurred 66 million years ago, killing off the dinosaurs and much of the rest of life on earth. In the 1990s, twenty years after this discovery, NASA scientists decided to plot out the location of northern Yucatan's cenotes. An interesting pattern then emerged. Many of the cenotes are concentrated along a ring marking the trough of the Chicxulub crater. Apparently, the impact caused weakening along the edge of that trough, leading to the creation of those cenotes. (Graphic from Wikipedia)

Another view of the roots extending down from the surface. The lack of surface-level water in northern Yucatan means that cenotes have been vital to human habitation since paleo-indians first arrived in the area. In 2001, archeologists found the skeleton of a human female under the water of a cenote. They called her "Eve of Naharon" and carbon-dated her remains to 13,600 years ago. The cenotes were natural gathering places for humans seeking water and also hunting animals who were coming for a drink. In fact, the Spanish word for cenote derives from the Maya ts'ono'ot, which translates as "location with accessible water".

The ancient Maya began their transition from a hunter-gatherer culture to one based on agriculture around 2,500 BC. Permanent settlements appeared around 1,800 BC. Since farming requires a substantial and readily available source of water, the areas around cenotes naturally developed first. Valladolid's predecessor, the ancient city of Zaci, had twelve of these sinkholes within a relatively short distance. Two of them are within a few hundred yards of the site of Zaci's pyramid, which once stood in the middle of what is now Valladolid's Parque Principal. 

"Ah...at last a cool drink of water". Roots suck up water from the surface of the cenote's sparkling, clear water. The clarity of the water is caused by the filtering process. This occurs as the liquid travels down through the limestone, depositing its impurities along the way and sometimes creating stalactites. Cenotes generally contain less life than other bodies of water, but various fish have been found in them, including mojarras, mollies, guppies, catfish and small eels.

While the pre-hispanic Maya viewed cenotes as important for drinking water and crops, there was also a religious dimension. They believed that cenotes were the domain of the Rain God Chaac, their most important deity. These dark and mysterious places were also seen as entrances to Xibalba (the underworld). Offerings and sacrifices, sometimes including live humans, were thrown into cenotes sagrados (sacred cenotes). These include one at Chichen Itza and another in the ceremonial center of ancient Dzibilchaltún, just north of Mérida.

Non-sacrificed humans enjoying a swim in the cenote. A rope is suspended 27m (90ft) down from the rim to the water's surface. A very popular activity is to swing from a platform out toward the middle and drop into the water. The person on the right appears to be trying to see the bottom. Good luck with that! The water's depth is 45m (148ft). In order to keep the water clean and clear, swimmers are required to take a shower before entering. This helps prevent body lotions from polluting the water.

When the Spanish arrived, they took note of the cenotes and built their haciendas, conventos, and other important buildings adjacent to them. No doubt this caused some hostility from the Maya, who had freely used these water sources for millennia. The Spanish were motivated by easy access to water but, like the Maya, they also had religious reasons. They were no fans of Chaac, or the other native deities, and did everything they could to stamp out what they saw as "devil worship". This included preventing offerings and sacrifices at the cenotes sagrados. It was all part of the "Spiritual Conquest".

Two other swimmers hang onto a rope stretched across the surface as a safety measure. Both wear life vests, which are available at the hacienda. These are mandatory for anyone wishing to swim in the cenote.  This might be a product of government regulations, but I'm betting the property owner is glad to enforce the rule. Reports of drowned swimmers would not be good for business.

At first, the Spanish followed the native practice of bringing water up in jugs. However, they soon constructed mechanical ways of lifting the water, using using animals or windmills for power. You saw the windmill at Hacienda San Lorenzo Oxman in the last posting. In a future posting, I will show an example of 17th century Spanish hydraulic engineering at the Convento de San Bernardino de Siena in Valladolid. There, in 1613, they built an animal-driven noria (water wheel) over another cenote named Sis-há.  

A view from the water level up to the rim. Notice the safety barrier. It was probably erected after some careless or overly-adventurous tourist fell over the edge. That is probably not historically unusual. Scientists found the skeletons of 120 people at the bottom of another cenote. None of them showed evidence of sacrifice, so they may have just fallen in over the centuries. The opening to the sky lets in shafts of sunlight that create a serene and mystical feeling. As I mentioned before, you are more likely to enjoy this feeling in the morning, when the place is not overrun with noisy tourists and screaming children.

Some cenotes are probably still used by Maya farmers for their water needs, primarily in remote areas. However, many cenotes in easily accessible locations are now used as tourist attractions. With the recent completion of the tourist train around the Peninsula, I expect this to increase substantially. While I hate to see pristine places overrun by hordes of tourists, I fear that is the future of Yucatan, Campeche, and Quintana Roo, the three states within the Peninsula. However, the Maya people have long struggled with poverty and under-development, so it may be that some will benefit economically.

This completes Part 8 of my Valladolid Adventures series. I hope you have enjoyed it. If so, please leave any thoughts or questions in the Comments section below, or email me directly. If you leave a question, please include your email address so that I can respond in a timely fashion.

Hasta luego, Jim

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 of oxen. I still occasionally see one when I travel along the back roads in rural areas. The hacienda's 18th century casa grande has been transformed into a boutique hotel, but has preserved many of its original architectural features. This posting will focus on the hacienda itself, while the next one will take a look at its cenote, which has become the property's main tourist attraction.

Historical information about Hacienda San Lorenzo Oxman is surprisingly scarce. In the 18th and early 19th centuries, it raised livestock and cultivated maiz (corn). However, in the mid-19th century it became a hacienda henequenera. This was the name given to haciendas in Yucatan that grew the sisal plant. Henequen fiber was extracted from the sisal leaves in order to make rope and twine. In the posting below, I'll explain what brought about the great boom in henequen production and why this "green gold" created huge fortunes as well as great abuses.

Overview

The leaves of the sisal plant are stripped to produce henequen fiber. Notice the plant's trunk where leaves have been cut in previous harvests. The use of this fiber dates back very far into pre-hispanic times, possibly even into the early days of human habitation in Yucatan. Sisal is native to Yucatan and the Maya utilized it to make cord, sandals, bags, and clothing. The sharp end of the leaf was used as a needle and the Maya also produced an alcoholic beverage by fermenting the pulp inside the trunk. 

When I first researched Hacienda San Lorenzo Oxman, some sources mentioned that agave was its primary crop, but other sources mentioned sisal. I am very familiar with the agave azul that is grown in the state of Jalisco to make tequila. I therefore assumed that both henequen and mescal (similar to tequila) were produced at the hacienda. Later, I discovered that sisal is formally known as Agave sisalana and is a distant relative of Jalisco's agave. However, unlike the Jalisco plant, Yucatan's Agave sisalana was used by the hacienda's owners to produce henequen fiber. (Photo from Wikipedia).

Google map with the route to Hacienda San Lorenzo Oxman. From the Parque Principal (Valladolid's main plaza) take Highway 295 south about 3 km (1.8 mi). Take your next right after the sign pointing toward Mérida. This will put you onto Highway 180, the Libramiento Sur de Valladolid. Drive about 2 km (1.2 mi) until you see a sign on your right for "Cenote Oxman". 

The sign doesn't mention San Lorenzo, probably because most visitors come for the cenote. Turn right on a smoothly graded dirt road and proceed for approximately 300 m (328 yds) to the parking area. Access to the hacienda is free, but there are charges to swim in the cenote. There is also a restaurant on the property restaurant. Click here for information about the cenote.

The hacienda's entrance

The main gate forms the transition from the parking area to the hacienda's grounds. The gate opens onto a broad walkway that leads to the casa grande, which can be seen in the background. A number of years have passed since our visit and recent internet photos show that both the gate and the casa grande have been repainted to other colors. However, the basic structures appear to be the same. The broad, open, lawn area between the gate and the back of the casa grande was most likely the work area where sisal leaves were transformed into henequen fiber and then into string and rope. 

When the hacienda was founded in 1746, large scale production of henequen was still far in the future. The property was initially used to raise livestock. As in the rest of Nueva España (colonial Mexico), the native population had crashed during the first two centuries after the Conquest. This created a labor shortage and cattle required far fewer workers than farming. As the population recovered, increased labor availability enabled large-scale maiz (corn) production. Valladolid and Mérida would have been the hacienda's primary markets for both cattle and maiz. However, at the beginning of the 1830s, things began to change.

A visitor walks his bicycle up toward the casa grande. People arrive at the  hacienda in a variety of ways. Some come on bikes, a few on foot, and others by car. In recent times, a lot of folks have been arriving by tour bus after visiting the ancient Maya city of Chichen Itza. This means that in the mid-afternoon, mobs of tourists show up, eager to cool off in the sparkling water of the cenote. If you want to avoid the crowds, the best time to arrive at the hacienda is during the morning. The hours are 8 AM - 5 PM, seven days a week. 

The beginning of the 19th century was full of turmoil in both Mexico and Europe. The Mexican War of Independence lasted from 1810 to 1821. Europe had been almost continuously at war from the beginning of the French Revolution in 1789 through the defeat of Napoleon in 1815. Sea trade had suffered greatly during this period. During the decade of the 1820s, trade was beginning to recover and, with it, demand for ships. In those days, sailing ships required large amounts of good strong rope for rigging. Shipbuilders looking for this essential product discovered Yucatan's henequen. A market soon developed.

The Casa Grande's work area

The ruins of a building stand off to the right of the walkway. The structure is made of limestone, the most plentiful building material in Yucatan. Notice the old wheel leaning against the front wall. It is probably a remnant of a carreta or a four-wheel wagon. 

There is nothing to indicate what the building was used for, but it was almost certainly involved in the henequen operation. One possibility is that this was a supervisor's office. It is certainly too small to fit all of the machinery needed for processing henequen fibers. 

In addition to space for a supervisor, it might also have contained the tienda de raya (company store). That was where workers were paid, usually in script or coinage produced by a hacienda. This "money" could only be spent for goods sold in the tienda de raya. Thus, a highly profitable closed system was developed, one which was widely employed among the haciendas. An additional benefit of this closed system is that it helped stabilize the labor pool, for reasons I will explain below.  

A doorway opens into one of the ruined structure's rooms. Plaster still coats the interior walls. The rooms were empty of furniture or other remains. If this was a tienda de raya, it would have contained the daily necessities for a worker and his family. Since he was paid very little, he soon had to rely on credit to make his purchases. The tienda de raya would have kept the records of his pay and any debts owed. Most of the workers were illiterate and had no way of knowing whether or not these records were accurate.

A worker could not legally leave the hacienda while owing money. If he ran away, the rurales (rural police) would hunt him down and return him to the hacienda. Once back, he might be flogged and/or thrown into the jail that many haciendas maintained. If the worker became disabled or died while owing money, the debt passed to his wife and children. This kind of debt-slavery helped maintain a stable work force. Altogether it was an excellent and profitable arrangement, as long as you were on the right end of it.

A sisal worker struggles under the crushing weight of his burden. This painting is part of a series of murals in the Palacio Gobierno (Government Palace) in Mérida. The various murals highlight the oppression experienced by the Maya in the colonial period and later, during the henequen boom. In the mural, a heavily muscled worker strains to lift the bale of henequen, while shadowy figures reach their hands toward it. Perhaps these are the ghosts of former workers trying to help him in his struggle.

While hacendados (hacienda owners) began to cultivate sisal in the 1820s to meet the demand for ship's rope, the real boom was launched in 1831. In that year a blacksmith in the US named Cyrus McCormick invented his famous McCormick Reaper. For millennia, wheat had been harvested by teams of men wielding hand scythes in the fields. McCormick's machine cut, thrashed, and bundled the wheat, and tied it in sheaves. This reduced the time required to produce a bushel of wheat by 95%, from slightly over 3 hours down to 10 minutes. Instead of a field full of workers, only two men and a team of horses were required.

A row of machines turn henequen fiber into twine. Large numbers of machines like this would have filled much of the work area. The early versions were probably hand-cranked, then later driven by steam engines. Toward the end of the 19th century, electrical power was introduced. The work area would have swarmed with men and bustled with activity from dawn to dusk. (Photo from Yucatan Living website)

Twine was the connection between the haciendas henequeneras and the farmers in the US who were avidly adopting the McCormick Reaper. However, a major problem emerged when the Reaper was first put to use. Metal wire for binding the sheaves was tried, but it proved too stiff. Twine made of mixed fibers was also attempted, but it had weak spots and tended to bunch up in the machinery. Also, mixed fiber twine could be damaged by weather and insects. The men working with the Reapers soon discovered that twine made from the henequen was smooth, strong, didn't bunch, and was resistant to insects and weather.

A carreta stands on the lawn near the casa grande. Carretas were so ubiquitous a feature of Mexico that B. Traven (author of "Treasure of the Sierra Madre") gave one of his books the title of "The Carreta". It was about a young man who left the hacienda where he was born to make his way in the world. He eventually acquired a carreta and became a transporter of goods. Unfortunately, back at the hacienda, his father fell ill. Because the father was heavily indebted to the tienda de Raya and couldn't work, the young man had to give up his promising business and return to the hacienda to work off the family debts.

The McCormick Reapers were the beginning of industrialized agriculture, resulting in massive farms operating numerous Reapers. All those Reapers required huge amounts of henequen twine. Yucatan's haciendas were transformed from sleepy local operations into economic powerhouses, reaping millions of dollars for their owners. Splendid mansions in Mérida still display the opulence of that time. Of course, the tens of thousands of Maya workers saw barely a trickle of all that wealth. Hennequen demand resulted in more seizures of Maya land. Labor shortages led to one of the most shameful chapters in Mexican history.

Yaqui people being marched into slavery at the haciendas henequeneras. Yaquis were the last indigenous tribe to be conquered in Mexico. Their homeland is in the Sierra Madre Occidental in northwest Mexico. The Yaquis had resisted conquest from their first encounter with the Spanish in the 16th century until their final defeat by the Mexican government in 1927. During the regime of the dictator Porfirio Diaz (1876-1911), the government pursued a policy of enslavement. The owners of the henequen haciendas were eager for cheap labor and Yaqui men, women, and children were sold to them at 60 pesos per head. By 1908, at least 5000 had been sold, in spite of the abolishment of slavery in Mexico back in 1829. 

While I can't definitely say that Yaqui slaves worked at Hacienda San Lorenzo Oxman, their use was widespread at henequen producing haciendas throughout northern Yucatan. After all, what hacendado could pass up something as cheap as slave labor when demand for henequen was so high? The Yaquis were forced to work from dawn to dusk in harsh tropical heat to which they were unaccustomed. They were given little food and locked up at night. They were trapped far away from their homeland, so escape was almost impossible. Two-thirds of the Yaquis died in their first year of captivity. (Photo from the Palacio Gobierno)

Casa Grande

View from the back terrace of the casa grande toward the main gate. Several staircases like the one above lead up from the broad lawn where the work area once stood. Carretas full of harvested sisal leaves once passed through the gate in one direction. Others full of finished twine would have passed through in the opposite direction, on their way to the port of Sisal on Yucatan's north coast.

On June 4, 1910, only two years after the peak of Yaqui enslavement, an insurrection broke out in Valladolid against the Porfirio Diaz dictatorship. It has been described as "the first spark of the Mexican Revolution", which didn't formally begin until five months later on November 20, 1910. Over the previous 35 years, Diaz had held a series of rigged elections which he always won. Those who opposed him rallied behind the Anti-Reelection Party. In Valladolid, this was led by Maximiliano Bonilla, a Yucateca (non-Maya Mexican). 

The back terrace and rear side of the casa grande. This terrace would have provided additional space for work as well as a good place to view the operations being performed below. The rear side of the casa grande is rather plain. There are doors on either side which lead into two wings, each having two stories. The two arched openings in the middle lead into an arcade which opens onto a terrace facing out into the front yard of the building.

Although Maximiliano Bonilla and the other leaders were Yucatecas, the Maya laborers on the haciendas surrounding Valladolid rallied to the cause. It is very likely that some of them came from Hacienda San Lorenzo Oxman. As I have shown, the Maya on the haciendas had been brutally oppressed for centuries. However, they also had a long history of resistance against their oppressors. The Caste War (1847-1915) had been going on for more than 60 years by 1910. Most of eastern Yucatan (now the State of Quintana Roo) had been under Maya control during that time. The Maya around Valladolid were more than ready to act.

View through one of the arched openings toward the front staircase. The arcade and its terrace run along the front of the casa grande and the staircase leads down to the front yard. The architectural floor plan of this casa grande is unusual. I have never encountered one like it among the several I have seen in Yucatan nor in any of more than 100 that I have visited elsewhere in Mexico. 

Initially, the revolt was a success. The Anti-Reelectionistas seized the city, tore up the railroad tracks to Mérida, and entrenched themselves. Luis Felipe de Regil, the chief local politician, was killed along with several soldiers. Porfirio Diaz saw the revolt as a dangerous development, so he sent 600 troops to Valladolid to crush the uprising. In spite of their superiority in numbers and armament, it took Diaz' troops four days to recapture Valladolid. The untrained Maya fought bravely, although most were armed only with machetes. They were finally defeated, leaving dozens of Maya fighters and Diaz soldiers lying dead in the streets.

View of the front side of the casa grande. While the back side has no windows, the front does. The upper parts of the structures on either side of the central arcade have two windows each, with balconies. Below the windows on each side are what appear to be bricked up doors, or possibly floor-to-ceiling windows. Why they were closed up is a mystery to me. I am assuming that the upper floors contain bedrooms. The lower floors may contain a kitchen and dining room and possibly a salon, but I could not determine that at the time.

After Valladolid's Anti-Reelectionista revolt was crushed, things settled down in Yucatan for several years. However, in the rest of the country, they were heating up. Within a year Porfirio Diaz was defeated and driven out of the country. This was followed by several years of conflicts among the revolutionary leaders. During this period, a young man named Salvador Alvarado steadily rose in rank from captain to general. In 1915, after Venustiano Carranza consolidated power and became President of Mexico, Salvador Alvarado was sent to Yucatan as Military Governor. Along with him, the Revolution arrived.

General Alvarado was a true social revolutionary, unlike many of his contemporaries who were essentially opportunists out for themselves. Alvarado was from Sonora, in northwest Mexico, and knew little about Yucatan. So, he spent his first six months studying the situation and consulting with people of all social classes. His first act was to liberate the Maya from serfdom. He cancelled their debts, outlawed debt-slavery, set minimum wages,  and established laws for health, safety, and child labor. Alvarado's goal was to end the feudal system under which the haciendas had operated for centuries.

In a far corner of the front yard is a large well. It stands near the entrance of the tunnel that descends into the cenote. Over the opening of the well there is a rusty mechanism that contains a wheel which probably functions in some way to bring up water. As I have mentioned previously, water is a critical issue in northern Yucatan. Without above ground rivers or lakes, the only sources are the cenotes and the wells dug following the Spanish Conquest. Hacienda San Lorenzo Oxman has the benefit of both.

Salvador Alvarado also set up a system of military courts to mete out justice swiftly and fairly. He legalized unions and halted abuses of the Sedition Law, historically used against workers who questioned their working conditions. Agrarian Committees were set up to oversee land reform and farm worker issues. Government agents were appointed to report abuses against common people by the landed class. Education became mandatory, secular, and free. Schools for agriculture and the arts were set up, along with a free institute for teaching law. The list of reforms is long. Amazingly, Alvarado did it all in under three years!

Presidente Carranza recalled Alvarado in 1918 for another assignment. After he left Yucatan, one of his supporters named Felipe Carrillo Puerto carried on the work. Carrillo Puerto, was of mixed Maya and Yucateca blood. He  become Governor of Yucatan in 1922 and gave his first speech in the Maya language. During his tenure, he returned land to the Maya that had been illegally seized by hacienda owners, promoted new farming techniques, gave women political rights, started family planning programs and opened 417 public schools. Unfortunately, Mexico was plagued with revolts in the 1920s. During one of them, Carrillo Puerto was captured by rebels and, in 1924, was executed by firing squad.

Above the well is a large windmill tower. The windmill provides the power for lifting water from the depths of the well. It wasn't apparent to me whether this windmill mechanism was still functioning. There may have been a more modern system somewhere out of sight, but I didn't see it. Fortunately for henequen growers, sisal required very little water since it is native to Yucatan and grew in the wild before it was ever cultivated for profit.

Both Salvador Alvarado and Felipe Carrillo Puerto attempted to reform the hacienda system, while still keeping the henequen business functioning. However, decline set in when some hacienda owners abandoned their properties rather than accede to reforms. Others had borrowed and over-invested and went out of business in the 1929 Depression. The end of the haciendas henequeneras came in 1937 when Presidente Lazaro Cardenas initiated land reforms which turned the haciendas over to ejidos (farmworkers' collectives). The final blow to the henequen business itself came when synthetic fibers replaced henequen in the 1940s.

This completes Part 7 of my Valladolid Adventures series. I hope you enjoyed seeing this old hacienda and learning about the role it played in the henequen business. Please leave any thoughts or questions in the Comments section below or email me directly. If you leave a question, please include your email address so that I can respond in a timely fashion.

Hasta luego, Jim