University of Yucatán

Turn to your left for a moment and take in the façade before you. This is the University of Yucatán, the main public university in southeastern Mexico. It was officially founded in 1922 by Governor Felipe Carrillo Puerto, but its roots go much further back, to the seventeenth century and the educational institutions established in Mérida by the Jesuits. The building facing the José Peón Contreras Theater dates from 1711. Originally known as the Colegio de San Pedro, it now houses the rector’s offices and functions as a cultural center open to the public. Fully renovated between 1938 and 1941 in a Neo-Colonial style, it is easily recognized by its elegant stone portico and interior spaces devoted to academic and cultural life. Having gained autonomy in 1984, UADY now offers a wide range of programs, from undergraduate to doctoral degrees, across several campuses in Mérida and in the eastern part of the state of Yucatán. With more than twenty-eight thousand students, it plays a central role in the region’s intellectual, scientific and cultural life, particularly through events open to the wider public. One of the most important is the Feria Internacional de la Lectura Yucatán, a major annual book fair that brings together publishers, authors and visitors in Mérida for talks, book sales and cultural activities for all ages.