One of the well known tourist routes in the Yucatan is the “Convent Route”, which takes you south-east of Merida through a myriad of small towns and villages to visit the many churches and convent buildings from the colonial era.
Sprinkled along the route are some well known Mayan ruins as well.
Our tour started started in the small town of Acanceh, where we parked in the main square and headed to the church.
Across the street from the large church was a smaller chapel built to honour Guadalupe, the patroness saint of the Yucatan.
As with all Mexican towns the main square is always nice to explore.
Now for the most interesting part of our visit to Acanceh. Also right across from the church is several Mayan ruins. These are very famous for the well preserved stucco masks that were uncovered during reclamation of the site.
Our guide then led us on foot for several blocks to the “Palace of the Stuccos” which contains several elaborate friezes.
On our way out of Acanceh, bound for Tekoh, we passed by the local bull fighting ring!
The road into Tekoh was lined with trees and rocks all whitewashed… very pretty.
On the square, in Tekoh, we parked and toured the quite large and ornate church.
We left Tekoh and we, based upon the map in the “Yucatan Today” magazine, headed south out of town. After 10 minutes of driving we agreed that the map was wrong and that our destination restaurant was actually on the bypass around Tekoh. Oh well, it was worth the backtrack!
After our wonderful lunch, we headed on to visit Mayapan, but in trying to manage the length of these blogs, that’ll have to wait ’til next time!
Watch this space for the next blog on Mayapan!
Love to all,
-doug and elaine
-mom and dad
-nana and papa