A Marian treasure in a Mayan village
It might seem strange that in a small, unassuming village like Sacalaca, hidden in the jungle, there wouild be two colonial churches, one dedicated to the Virgin of Candelaria, and the other to St. Francis of Assisi.
However, it makes sense once we know the undoubted historical relevance of this almost unknown village: it is the oldest Colonial settlement in the state, since it was the first step in the Spanish colonization of what is now Quintana Roo.
Dr. Luis Ojeda Godoy explains that Sacalaca was a Mayan settlement converted into a village for both white and indigenous inhabitants, each in their own sector, with their own church.
Because of its age and its architectural features, the church of the Virgin of Candelaria, popularly known as the “Whites’ church”, is considered one of the most important treasures of sacred art in Quintana Roo. It began as an open or Indians’ chapel in the 17th century, which was replaced in the 18th by the present church.
In 1748 it was endowed with a chamber for the Virgin of the Assumption, patroness of the village. This comprises two masonry rooms, and is one of the latest examples in the Peninsula, and the only example among the state’s collection of Colonial religious architecture.
The church of the Candelaria is a huge building. It originally had a roof of wood and palm leaves, apart from the presbytery, which had a masonry vault.
It still contains its old altar, and according to Miguel A. Cervantes, historian and cultural promoter with the Casa de Cultura in Felipe Carrillo Puerto, “it must have had magnificent reredoses, which were destroyed in the fires of war, or by indiscriminate pillaging.”
To the right of the main entrance is the baptistery, although there is no trace of a font.
A set of sculptures, including statues of Adam and Eve, by indigenous artists, used to adorn the façade, but can now be seen in the modest museum next to the land commission office.
The anthropologist Indalecio Cardeña Vázquez points out that these statues, representing characters from the Book of Genesis, are similar to ones on the front of the nearby church at Chikindzonot, in Yucatan.
There are three other sculptures, which apparently used to form part of the façade: two are full-length carvings of friars, and the third is a beautifully carved Virgin that used to stand above the choir window.
There are vestiges of what may have been an orchard, and also a Mayan mound. 500 meters (550 yards) away is a cenote with crystal-clear water, 40 m (130 ft) across and 30 m (98 ft) deep.
Sacalaca, which means “place of white grass”, was one of the villages hardest hit by the Caste War. It lies in the heart of the Mayan region, in the municipality of José María Morelos, 300 km (186 miles) from Merida, and the same distance from Chetumal.
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