A Sacred Emblem of Merida
Over the centuries, chroniclers, historians and art critics have turned their attention to what is undoubtedly the most iconic monument in the Yucatecan capital, penning a variety of first-rate texts; yet it is still no easy task to synthesise the history and architectural value of Merida Cathedral in only a few paragraphs.
To some extent, the history of the Cathedral dates back to the foundation of the city itself, on the 6th of January 1542. In his History of Yucatan, Friar Diego López de Cogolludo writes that immediately after founding the city, Francisco de Montejo “The Younger” charged father Francisco Hernández, his chaplain and Merida’s first parish priest, with choosing “in the best part of the plan that shall be made for the said city, a good place for building the Main Church, where the Christian faithful may hear doctrine and receive the sacraments”. The founder dedicated this church – the first in Merida and predecessor of the present Cathedral – to Our Lady of the Incarnation.
Although the Spanish crown had successfully petitioned the Pope as early as 1519 for the creation of a bishopric in the recently discovered territories of Yucatan, it was not until 1561, following a further request, that a bull of Pope Pius IV, dated 16th December, elevated Merida’s parish church to the status of Cathedral, re-dedicating it to St. Ildefonso of Toledo, and naming Friar Francisco Toral as the first resident bishop of the diocese of Yucatan, Cozumel and Tabasco.
Commencement of construction was hampered by lack of funds, but gradually the foundations were dug, and the titanic cathedral walls began to rise. It was the third bishop of the diocese, Friar Gregorio de Montalvo, who was finally able to declare the building work finished, on the 4th of November 1598. There followed an endless succession of projects to build altars, altarpieces, chapels and annexes, along with the acquisition of liturgical vessels and ornaments, bells, organs and a plethora of objects which over the centuries went to create the artistic wealth of the Cathedral.
The architects in charge of construction were Pedro de Aulestia and Juan Miguel de Agüero, although according to the historian Manuel Toussaint, the latter was the key figure and principal architect of the church. Merida’s is the oldest cathedral in Mexico, and in fact was the sole cathedral on the New World mainland to be concluded before the end of the 16th century, making it only the second in America after that of Santo Domingo.
The architecture of Merida Cathedral, classified as Spanish Renaissance-Mannerist, is surprisingly simple and balanced. In general, the architecture has a highly dramatic, geometric feel, with sharply delineated areas of light and shadow, and an affinity for large cubic forms. The main façade consists of three large sections which correspond to the naves inside.
The central section is a great triumphal arch that occupies much of the façade. Within this arch is a Corinthian-style doorway, with four grooved pilasters supporting a pediment; this in turn frames the main door or “Door of Forgiveness”, made of thick wooden planks and decorated with studs and allegorical door-knockers.
Between the pilasters on either side of the main door, there are niches containing statues of the Apostles Peter and Paul, each bearing his traditional iconographic symbols: the Gospels, the keys to Heaven, and a sword. The lateral entrances are marked by simple pediments, and lack pilasters, as befits the Mannerist credentials of the building.
Over the central doorway is the choir window, and above that a magnificent coat-of-arms carved in stone and decorated with filigree plant motifs. At its base are two plaques with Latin inscriptions referring to the reigning monarch at the time the building was finished, and the year of its completion. In English, they read:
“Philip II, by the Grace of God king of Spain and the Indies” and “The Year of Our Lord 1599”.
Around 1824, the royal arms were removed and replaced by the symbol of the Mexican Empire, which can still be seen today, comprising an eagle perched on a cactus.
The Cathedral has two towers, rising 43.5 m (143 ft) in three stages. Access is via spiral staircases within the square bases. The north tower houses the Cathedral bells, each of which is dedicated to a particular saint.
The oldest bell is that of St Mary and St Ildefonso, cast in 1618 and donated to the Cathedral by Dr. Pedro Sánchez de Aguilar, a Yucatan creole from Valladolid. It weighs approximately 1,600 kilos (1¾ tons).
The largest bell is dedicated to the Virgin of Guadalupe. It weighs 1800 kilos (2 tons) and was consecrated in 1980. Other bells are named after Our Lady of the Rosary and St. Joseph, dating from the 17th and 18th centuries respectively, as well as other more recent additions dedicated to St Ildefonso and St. Barnabas, and the Angelus bell.
The south tower is disused, and does not currently contain any bells. It does however bear the old Cathedral clock face, manufactured in London in 1731, as well as a curious little balcony which enabled the clockkeeper to carry out his duties and ensure the clock was functioning correctly.
The floor plan of the Cathedral is that of an open basilica with naves, measuring 66.75 m by 31.30 m (219 x 103 feet). The vaults are 22.27 m (73 ft) high, while the central dome rises to 33.60 m (110 ft). It is divided into three naves by 12 Doric columns that correspond to 16 half-columns attached to the walls. The columns support round transverse arches carved in stone, on which rest 20 handkerchief vaults.
The hemispherical dome – which the art historian Jorge Alberto Manrique believed to be the first built on the continent – was erected above the fifth section of the central nave, and is crowned by a lantern. It is clearly modelled on the Roman Pantheon, having an exterior false stabilising drum, and a similar number of internal coffers. It is supported by pendentives, and has a ring of windows at the bottom. Both the central nave and the transept vaults are also decorated with fine masonry coffering.
The design of the dome, known as a transept vault, differs from traditional domes. Similar construction methods are only found in Andalusia, Spain – specifically Seville – and elsewhere in Mexico, although here the Cathedral of St. Ildefonso is the best example.
The master builders of 16th century Andalusia experimented with Gothic construction methods, and achieved notable advances in stone-working which were later adopted in America. This complex building system basically consists in placing stone blocks to form a series of arches with different curvatures that cross each other in two directions, creating a grid design that produces the characteristic coffering.
As in all Hispanic cathedrals, Merida had a central choir containing seating for the bishop and the canons. The choir was used for the first time on Christmas Eve 1663, but underwent continual improvements during the 18th century. The stalls were Baroque in style, including two rows for the canons decorated in relief carvings representing different saints, seats for musicians and singers, as well as pipe organs on either side. This choir was dismantled and removed from its central location in accordance with the improvement plans presented for the Cathedral by the Italian architect Francisco Zapari in 1810.
The High Altar in the Cathedral gained its first reredos in the early 17th century. It was of three sections and a pinnacle, and “very attractive architecture”, with niches for statues of saints, and painted panels. Later, this reredos was replaced by an even more sumptuous Baroque one composed of estipites, which was inaugurated on the 8th of September 1762. In 1821, a new High Altar was introduced, designed by the architect José Poblaciones, comprising a neo-Classical baldachin embellished with engraved silver plates. These works of art, along with the lateral altarpieces and side chapels, adorned the Cathedral until they were almost completely destroyed on the night of the 24th of September 1915, when the historic church was entered and sacked by soldiers under the command of General Salvador Alvarado, governor of Yucatan. The building was expropriated, and closed to services for the next three years.
Once the church was returned to the ecclesiastical authorities, gradual reconstruction of the interior was begun by Archbishop Martín Tritschler y Córdova, who installed four new neo-Classical lateral altarpieces designed by the Yucatecan sculptor Francisco Mena Valdés. Two of these altars, slightly modified, are still in place today.
The Archbishop also commissioned the well-known architect Federico E. Mariscal to renovate the Chancel and the High Altar: a large-sale project that ultimately never came to fruition.
Some years later, Archbishop Fernando Ruiz Solórzano turned his attention to the empty chancel, which still lacked a reredos and High Altar worthy of the largest church in the Archdiocese. He commissioned a monumental statue of Christ from the Spanish sculptor Ramón Lapayese del Río, carved in birch wood and 7.65 m (25 ft) tall. The Christ figure hangs from a cross 13 m (43 ft) high, designed by Lapayese himself, and produced by skilled Yucatecan artisans.
After it was first shown in the parish of Guadalupe in Madrid, Spain, in early 1967, the huge sculpture was shipped to its final destination in the chancel of Merida Cathedral. It was blessed before a multitudinous congregation on the 10th of October, and given the name of Christ of Unity. The same sculptor also produced the church’s 14 Stations of the Cross, made of sheet metal on white marble slabs.
Among the most notable works of sacred art housed in the Cathedral is a large oil painting of the Immaculate Virgin Mary, or Tota Pulchra, on one of the walls of the south nave. It was painted by Friar Miguel de Herrera in 1730, and previously hung in the Great Monastery of St. Francis, now gone. There are also fine gilded statues of St. Joseph and the Immaculate Conception, both dating to the 18th century, and possibly made in Guatemala.
A more recent work is the image of Christ of the Blisters, venerated in its own chapel. It was sculpted in 1919 to replace the 17th century original, which was destroyed during the pillage of 1915. The present sculpture of the Cathedral’s patron saint, Ildefonso of Toledo, is from 1930. It is of polychrome cedar wood, embellished with stones embedded in the saint’s episcopal regalia. The image was a gift from Cristina Millet de Vales, and was carved by Antonio Vila, whose prestigious workshop was located at #15 Puerta del Angel Avenue, in Barcelona, Spain.
One of the niches in the altarpiece of the Holy Trinity holds a striking image of St. Eulalia, the patron of Merida, Spain, made by Juan de Ávalos and gifted to the Cathedral in 1949 by the parish priest of the Spanish town, César Lozano Cambero.
The choir-loft was built in 1904 to house a magnificent German pipe organ, which was also destroyed during the attack of 1915. The present organ was built in 1938 by Alfredo Wolburg.
Finally, within the chapels, sacristy, offices and other parts of the Cathedral complex there is a fine collection of paintings covering the 17th to 20th centuries. Of special interest is the gallery of episcopal portraits in the Chapter House, and the painting of Our Lady of Guadalupe by Miguel Cabrera, the finest painter of New Spain, which holds pride of place in the same room.
The Cathedral is the most iconic building in the Mexican south-east, a monumental symbol of religious conquest and the creation of a new settlement that would later become Merida, Yucatan. St Ildefonso’s has been an enduring and imposing presence throughout the transformations which time and history have wrought on the city. Its architectural and artistic features, no less than its relationship with the society around it, make it a key element without which it would be impossible to understand our cultural evolution.
Location