San Roque Museum

Located in the former Convent of San Roque, this museum tells the story of Valladolid and the entire eastern Yucatán, from pre-Hispanic times to the Mexican Revolution. Inside, several themed rooms guide visitors through the major periods of regional history. The first introduces the Maya world, when the city was still known as Zací. The visit then continues with the colonial period, marked by the Spanish conquest and the establishment of colonial administration, and ends with the revolutionary events of the early 20th century. If you decide to visit the museum, I invite you afterward to walk to the garden located behind the building. This small park is called Parque de los Héroes, the Park of the Heroes. Even if you do not enter the museum, you can access it directly from the street. A quiet place to stroll, much appreciated by locals, the park is more than just a green space. It is also an important place of historical memory for the city. It is here that one of the key moments in Mexican history is remembered. On the night of June 4, 1910, an uprising broke out in Valladolid against the long dictatorship of President Porfirio Díaz. The insurgents, many of them Maya workers from nearby haciendas, seized control of the city. After several days of fighting, the federal army eventually retook it. At the center of the park stands an obelisk dedicated to the martyrs of this uprising, commemorating the revolutionaries who were executed here after the city was recaptured. Each year, at the beginning of June, a ceremony and a historical reenactment recall this founding episode in Valladolid’s history. A little further into the park, you will also see the bust of Venustiano Carranza. This politician was one of the major leaders of the Mexican Revolution and became president of the country in 1917. He is particularly known for promulgating the Constitution of 1917, which introduced major social reforms such as the right to strike, the eight-hour workday, and certain land reforms. That is the official version of this quiet corner of the park. The unofficial version is that it is also a very pleasant place to linger in the late afternoon, when the light turns golden and the smell of tacos begins drifting in from the nearby streets. History is always easier to digest on a full stomach.