The beautiful city of Merida has many wonders and hidden secrets, from where the city was built to the most curious places to find a cenote, today we bring you some curiosities of our great city.
It is located inside the crater where the meteorite that extinguished the dinosaurs fell. During the search for new oil deposits in the 70’s, the Chicxulub crater was discovered, which due to its great magnitude is impossible to see with the naked eye.
It was built over Mayan ruins. Mérida was founded on January 6, 1542 by Francisco de Montejo ‘el Mozo’, on the remains of the Mayan city of Ichcaanziho, which in Spanish means ‘five hills’.
It has the second largest historic center in the country. The Yucatecan capital has the second largest historic area in the country, second only to Mexico City, according to information from the City Hall.
It has the oldest cathedral in continental America. The Cathedral of San Ildefonso began its construction in 1562 and was finished in 1598 becoming the second religious building of its kind in America.
It was twice named cultural capital. Mérida was the first city to be named ‘America’s Capital of Culture’ in 2000 and to date is the only city in the continent to have received that title on more than one occasion, being the second in 2017.
It has its own alcoholic beverage. Xtabentún is a Mayan drink made with bee honey that feeds on the flower of the same name, as well as rum and aniseed.
There are cenotes even in the supermarket. To enjoy these subway rivers it is not necessary to leave the city, since cenotes can be found even in the Costco, which is located north of the city.
Pedro Infante died here. The actor of the ‘Golden Age’ of Mexican cinema died in a plane crash on April 15, 1957 south of the city.
The First Feminist Congress of the country was held. The congress was inaugurated on January 13, 1916 at the Peón Contreras Theater, where 620 congressmen participated. It was the First Feminist Congress in Mexico and the second in Latin America.
The tallest buildings in the southeast. To the north of the city are the Country Towers that exceed 100 meters in height and house 190 apartments in the two towers of the complex. These two towers of 30 stories each are considered the tallest buildings from the city of Puebla to Panama.
It is not the only one in the world. Mexico’s Merida is named after the city of the same name in the community of Extremadura in Spain; there is also a city with the same name in Venezuela; however, each is completely different from the other.
TYT Newsroom
