Haciendas De Yucatan

CONTENTS

PRESENTATION

INTRODUCTION

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

Cattle ranches

The sisal hacienda

Splendor

The Acasillado system

Decline

NEW SPLENDOR

WHAT MUST BE IMAGINED

ACHITECTURAL SITYLES

MAP

TO TRAVEL BACK IN TIME

Chenché de las Torres

Chenkú

Chichí de los Lagos

Chichí Suárez

Chunchucmil

ChunkanánEkncabchén

Katanchel

Petcanché

Poxilá

Sacalá

San Antonio Cucul

San Antonio Millet

San Fancisco Tzacalhá

Petac

San Ignacio

San Ildefonso Teya

San José Cholul

San José Chiceh

San Juan Bautista Tabi

San Lorenzo Aké

San Miguel

San Nicolás Dzoyaxché

SanPedro Chimay

San Pedro Ochil

Santa Rosa de Lima

Tanil

San Pedro Chukuaxín

Temozón Sur

Uayalceh

Wallis

Xcanchacán

Xcumpich

Xcanatún

Yaxcopoil

Zodzil

NOTES

BIBLIOGRAPHY

PRESENTATION

The haciendas of Yucatan are a living example of the history of our State: they preserve the occupations, trades and cultureof the individuals who people a past of conquest and want, but also of glory.

The book Haciendas of Yucatan: chronicles of a Renaissance offers a guide to the different haciendas of Yucatan, looking at their diverse origins, history and modern roles. The text constitutes a testimony to the rebirth of the haciendas, allowing us to discover the current state of the buildings, activities that arecarried out in each one and the location of the most important examples in the State.

This book explains the integration of the contemporary hacienda into the economic, social, ecological and cultural life of our society; and contributes to our culture by reclaiming the importance of the haciendas as a fundamental element of the country, of our Yucatan.

Eduardo Llamosa Neumann

INTRODUCTIONAs witnesses to a recent past – as architectural monuments in some cases, as examples of what is now called “historical heritage”, or even as potential sources of income for the State – the old building which housed the haciendas of Yucatan today comprise a rich cultural treasure whose value has only recently begun to be recognized.

In synthesis, the life – or “lives” – of the haciendas ofYucatan could be summed up by saying they began as stretches of land and modern building designed for working the land – first manually, then with machinery – , they then spent decades and decades as ruins until today, when post-modernity has opened our eyes to the past in its quest for preservation of ever-endangered identity.

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

Situated in the south-east of Mexico, thePeninsula of Yucatan must be considered the land of the hacienda por excellence, given the large number of plantations that proliferated at the end of the 19th century, when the majority focused their production on the exclusive cultivation of sisal.

However their origins could be traced back to several points in history. Before the conquest, the pre-Hispanic period, the plant known as “ci” or“ki” was already used to provide fibers and to manufacture ropes, cloth and other products; in addition, the Maya extracted a liquid from it that was consumed as a refreshing drink.

Towards the mid 19th century, the old techniques for extracting fiber was the same as it had been for many years: the spear was cleaned by hand before dawn being stripped and left to dry, thus producing the rawmaterial for manufacturing finished products.

The sisal hacienda was the best-known and most fully developed, reaching its peak between 1880 and 1910, and displacing the cultivation of maize and sugar cane, which were also exploited in Yucatan. The so-called “sisal zone” covered the northwest part of the Peninsula and encompassed around 60 percent of the area of the State.

Thank to a variety...