The “Original” Cathedral of Merida
This medium-sized church stands in the center of Merida, on the corner of 61st and 58th Streets, next to the Cathedral of St. Ildefonso. It can be difficult to spot, despite being 20m(66 ft) high, since the façade is shyly tucked away at right-angles to the street, and thousands of locals pass by every day without realising they are so close to a building older than its grand neighbor, the Cathedral.
Construction on the chapel, originally dedicated to Our Lady of the Rosary, and later renamed Church of St. John of God, began in the 16th century. The chronicler Diego Lopez de Cogolludo mentions that it functioned as a “provisional” cathedral while St Ildefonso’s was being built.
The architectural design of the chapel is simple, and from outside it appears as a large, rectangular block. It is built of stone masonry, roofed with round beams supported inside by round arches. The floors are of marble, but otherwise there is little decoration. Various sources state that for this reason, “the interior was embellished with very fine Italian paintings depicting the twelve apostles, donated by the canon Bartolomé de Honorato”. None of the pictures remain, but there are two exterior features which are worth appreciating.
At the top of the main façade, which faces East, there is a crowning feature known as a bellcote, very typical of churches in Yucatan. They were normally used as belfries, but also had an ornamental function. The pyramidal shape of this example, with its tiny arches, may have been inspired by the roof-combs of pre-Hispanic Mayan temples.
The other notable exterior feature is on the South façade, in the center of the huge wall lining 61st Street. It is an alfiz or carved stone frame in a Plateresque style which adorned the original entrance to the church. Above the doorway is a small arched niche which originally used to contain a statue, probably of the Virgin to whom the chapel was first dedicated
The fate of this small church, and the uses to which it was put, were linked for almost four centuries to a larger complex of buildings of which only memories, a few remnants, and the chapel itself are all that remain. This was the site of the Hospital of St John of the Cross, the first hospital in Yucatan.
Construction of this hospital, run by the Brothers of St. John of the Cross, began in 1562, and at its greatest extension, in the 17th century, it enclosed two large patios, to the north and east of the chapel, whose atrium provided access to the hospital buildings.
The hospital has had an eventful existence, closely connected to events in the city’s history. In 1821, as a result of the confiscation of church property, it was taken over by the State, and in 1832 it was re-named the Merida General Hospital. This in turn was the predecessor of the O’Horan Hospital, which was first established in the ex-Monastery of La Mejorada, and later moved to its current location on Itzaes Avenue.
The complex was sold and sub-divided in 1862, and since then has been used for a variety of purposes. In 1867 it became home to the prestigious St. Ildefonso Catholic school. In 1910, Salvador Alvarado, opened two primary school there, and it was also the site of the Tax Authority’s General Audit office, and the workshops of the Official Gazette.
Under then government of Felipe Carrillo Puerto, the complex acquired a function which evoked fond memories in the people of Merida for many years. The Yucatan Museum of Mayan Archaeology was founded here, later becoming the Yucatan Archaeology and History Museum. The buildings housed the region’s most important collection of artefacts chronicling the history of the Peninsula. Outstanding features of the construction were the access gardens, designed by Manuel Amabilis, with a neo-Mayan style fence, and a bust of the explorer Teobert Mahler, by Leopoldo Tomassi López.
The museum operated successfully until the 1960s, when, for reasons unknown, the complex of buildings was sold to a private buyer and almost completely demolished. Only the chapel survived, because fortunately it was not included in the sale; but it was closed and abandoned.
In the 1970s the chapel was re-opened, and for some years housed the City Museum. However, in the mid-1990s it was again closed, and so it remains to this day.
What we see here is the oldest church in Yucatan, which not only formed part of the first hospital complex in the Peninsula, but also housed the first archaeological and historical museum in the State, for which reasons it deserves to be given more attention and to be given value by means of a use worthy of its importance. We must learn that as a community we cannot afford to lose such valuable pieces of our history and our identity.
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