Resumen: In the 16th century, the Spanish conquered vast regions of Central America and began to preach Christianity to the native Indian population. The Franciscans erected their missions in Yucatan upon the ruins of destroyed Maya temples and used these as a base for their missionary work. Through the course of history, their buildings were often severely damaged as a result of Maya rebellion and anticlerical uprisings. Thus, in 1996, the World Monument Fund (WMF) entered Yucatan's colonial churches into the list of the world's most threatened cultural sites.
This two-volume illustrated publication portrays the colonial churches of Yucatan, escorting the reader along seventeen regional routes across the peninsula. Spectacular photography and informative prose are used to paint portraits of the churches and their important historical back- grounds.
This volume describes the region around Merida and the western part of the Yucatan peninsula, including the state of Campeche. Besides the churches in Merida, this illustrated book elaborately
portrays the religious buildings along the tourist-trodden Ruta de los Conventos and Camino Real Alto, not forgetting those located around Motul and Hunucma. The convents and churches in the famous ruined Maya towns of the Puuc región and the buildings in the state of Campeche are also depicted in this volume.
The attractively laid-out photographs and prose not only invite the reader to marvel at these extraordinary churches, but also entice the reader to embark on his own journey to discover Yucatan's religious buildings, steeped in history and charm.
The colonial buildings in Central and South America are the focus of a series of illustrated books that will be published in the coming years. Two volumes dedicated to the colonial churches of Yucatan are already available, whilst illustrated books detailing colonial churches in Hidalgo State (México) and México City are currently being compiled.