Paseo de Montejo is Mérida’s most iconic avenue and the clearest expression of Yucatán’s golden age. Created at the end of the nineteenth century, at the height of the henequén boom, it was conceived as a grand modern boulevard inspired by the Champs-Élysées and the great avenues of Paris, designed to open the city toward the north and display its newfound wealth. Wide, tree-lined and carefully planned, it originally connected the historic center to new residential neighborhoods built for the economic elite. As you walk along the avenue, you pass a remarkable sequence of palaces, villas and monuments constructed between the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, combining Neoclassical, Beaux-Arts and eclectic styles, often with materials imported from Europe. Among the most notable are the Palacio Cantón, now an anthropology museum, and the Quinta Montes Molina, both vivid reminders of the refined lifestyle of Porfirian-era Mérida. Farther north, the Monumento a la Patria tells the story of Mexico in stone, from pre-Hispanic civilizations to modern times. In front of you, the Monumento a los Montejo marks one of the emblematic roundabouts along Paseo de Montejo and honors Francisco de Montejo and his family, the Spanish conquistadors who founded Mérida in 1542. Erected at the end of the nineteenth century, the statue presents them in a solemn, heroic pose, reflecting the historical vision of the Porfirian era, which celebrated the conquest as the founding moment of the city.