3 Best Sights in Mérida, Yucatán and Campeche States

Begun in 1561, Mérida's cathedral is one of the oldest on the North American mainland (an older one can be found in the Dominican Republic). It took several hundred Maya laborers, working with stones from the pyramids of the ravaged Maya city, 37 years to complete it. Designed in the somber Renaissance style by an architect who had worked on El Escorial in Madrid, its facade is stark and unadorned, with gunnery slits instead of windows and faintly Moorish spires.

Inside, the black Cristo de las Ampollas (Christ of the Blisters) occupies a side chapel to the left of the main altar. At 23 feet tall, it's the tallest Christ figure inside a Mexican church. The statue is a replica of the original, which was destroyed during the revolution in 1910 (also when the gold that once adorned the cathedral was carried off). According to one of many legends, the Christ figure burned all night and appeared the next morning unscathed—except for its namesake blisters. You can hear the pipe organ play at the 11 am Sunday Mass.

Several blocks south of the city center, the restored Hermitage of St. Isabel, also known as the Hermitage of the Good Trip stands on a square that is the heart of the neighborhood named after the church—La Ermita. Completed in 1748, the beautiful edifice served as a resting place for colonial-era travelers headed to Campeche. It's one of the most peaceful places in the city and a good destination for a ride in a horse-drawn carriage, though it's typically open only during mass. Behind the hermitage are huge tropical gardens, which have a waterfall and footpaths and which are usually unlocked during daylight hours.

Just north of Parque Hidalgo is one of Mérida's oldest buildings and the first Jesuit church in the Yucatán. It was built in 1618 from the limestone blocks of a dismantled Maya temple, and faint outlines of ancient carvings are still visible on the west wall. Although the church is a favorite place for society weddings, its interior is not ornate. In former convent rooms at the rear of the building, however, you'll find the Pinoteca Juan Gamboa Guzmán, a small but interesting art collection. The most engaging pieces are the striking bronze sculptures of indigenous Maya crafted by celebrated 20th-century sculptor Enrique Gottdiener Soto. On the second floor are about 20 forgettable oil paintings—mostly of past civic officials.