The palace of Yucatan’s patron saint
The monastery of St. Anthony of Padua in Izamal is one of the most important religious complexes in Yucatan, not only because of its size and scale, but also because of its location in a town with a long, rich history.
In 1549, in the heart of an ancient city dedicated to the god Zamná, the Franciscans chose a ruined building called Pap Hol Chaac, “House of Lightning”, where Mayan priests had once lived, as the site for their monastery. Friar Diego de Landa, who had arrived from Spain that same year, was assigned to this monastery.
Four years later, Landa was named Ordinary Prelate of the monastery, and charged with building the religious complex. Work began the same year, under the direction of Friar Juan de Mérida, and concluded in 1561.
Construction of the monumental atrium also began in the 16th century, with the first section completed in 1618, but according to the archaeologist Luis Millet Cámara, of the Yucatan INAH Center, the gallery “must have been completely finished around 1660”.
The Virgin’s camerín was built around 1648, according to the historian Miguel Bretos, putting the finishing touch to the majestically awe-inspiring monastery complex in place today.
The atrium was constructed on top of a raised pre-Hispanic base, and is reached by ascending grand ramps and then passing under the entrance arches. In the 16th century there was an Indian Chapel here, but it disappeared as such and was later incorporated into the atrium-monastery complex itself.
The huge closed atrium at Izamal is the second-largest in the world, after St. Peter’s Square in Rome. At each of the four corners there is a capilla posa, a small vaulted quadrangular structure in which the Eucharist would be “rested” (posada in Spanish) as the Franciscans paused in their processions. The capilla posa was one of the major architectural solutions to the task of Evangelization employed by monasteries in New Spain and Yucatan in the 16th century.
The Monastery church is dedicated to St. Anthony of Padua, a Franciscan priest who was canonized on the 30th May 1232. It is well-proportioned, with a barrel vault and ribbed domes above the apse (the part of the church where the altar stands).
In the main reredos there is a niche for our Our Lady of Izamal, the patron saint of Yucatan, a representation of Mary under her Title of The Immaculate Conception, celebrated, with special fervor, on the 8th of December.
The niche of the Virgin in the main reredos connects with the camarín, which is reached via a huge stone staircase. This chamber is supported by three sturdy flying buttresses, an external architectural feature resembling half an arch.
The present reredos was carved in the mid-20th century by Yucatecan artists Manuel and Federico Mena, because a fire in 1829 had destroyed the original, together with the 16th century image of the Virgin, and her camarín.
Another image which attracts particular devotion in Izamal is the Black Christ of Sitilpech, a village 7 km (4 miles) east of the town, to which it is brought to be feasted on the 18th of October.
Izamal means “Dew from Heaven”, a name which Friar Bernardo de Lizana in his book Devotional to Our Lady of Izamal, connects to Zamná, the mythical founder of the city. who in turn was a priest of the pre-Hispanic Mayan god Itzamná or Itzamatul, the creator of human beings and all things.
According to the Dictionary of Yucatecan Spanish, the origin is Itsamal, meaning “daily dew”, from iits, dew or sap from trees, and amal, constant or frequent.
Doctor Miguel Güémez Pineda also mentions another indigenous meaning, from itsamatul, meaning “he who receives or possesses the dew or liquid from heaven”.
The town, which was the first in Yucatan or the Southeast to receive the official distinction of Magical Town, is 67 km (42 miles) east of Merida, and 72 km (45 miles) northeast of Chichen Itza.
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