Mérida - Plaza Mayor Plaza de la Independencia

Near the Cathedral, but now separated from it by an intervening street, stands the Archbishop's Palace, which is now occupied by various government offices.

The palace also holds the Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Yucatán (Museum of Contemporary Art).

In the Parque Cepeda Peraza (or Parque Hidalgo), one block north of the Plaza Mayor on Calle 80, stands the Church of Jesus or Church of the Third Order (Iglesia de la Tercera Orden), a favourite church for weddings. On the left of the high altar will be seen an altarpiece of carved and gilded wood in the Plateresque style. The park also serves as a "taxi-rank" for Mérida's calesas (horse-drawn coaches).

One block west of the Town Hall stands a handsome conventual building, a relic of the Convento de las Monjas, founded at the end of the 16th c. The viewing tower dates from 1633.

At the north-east corner of the square is the Government Palace (Palacio de Gobierno), built in 1892 and decorated with interesting murals painted by the Campeche artist Fernando Castro Pacheco in 1971-74. From the balcony there is a fine view of the Plaza Mayor and the Cathedral.

The State Art Gallery is located just behind the Church of Jesús.

Opposite the Cathedral stands the Town Hall (Palacio Municipal), a 16th c. building with colonnades and a clock-tower. It was from here that the town-crier gave news of the independence of Yucatán in 1821.