Cathedral of Our Lady of the Purest Conception

In 1605 the town council went to the bishop of Yucatan, Don Diego Vázquez de Mercado, to tell him that the parish church, besides being in poor condition, was small. A few years later, the governor and the bishop agreed to build a new one. For this purpose, the plots that formed the north block of the square were purchased and the work began, which included an open chapel with its atrium on the sea side, and a cemetery on the opposite side; in the middle, the temple with three naves. At the end of 1610 the factory was suspended for lack of resources. Although the date on which the original project was modified and the construction periods have not been determined, it was not until 1705 that the bishop in turn blessed the church. In 1760, the extension was completed to its current size, including the west tower known as “La Española”. The other tower, “La Campechana” was erected in 1850. The main façade, with two sections, is covered with carved quarry and framed by two pilasters. The façade has a semicircular arch, while the choir window is a three-lobed arch, both of which are flanked by two pairs of grooved pilasters in the middle of which are ornamented niches that house sculptures of the church’s male saints. On the windowsill is the image of “La Concepción”, the patron saint of the city to whose title the parish church is dedicated. Two ox eyes complement the lighting of the inner choir. The curvilinear top of the façade is characteristic of the Baroque period, but its towers are the most significant elements of the complex. These, with smooth walls in their first three bodies, are extended by others with two semicircular arches on each side. Grooved pilasters seem to support the last octagonal-shaped bodies, open on four of their faces to accommodate the bells. The motif of the pilasters is repeated, reaching stylized bulbs crowned with crucifixes. The nave of the temple is a simple barrel vault running in a Latin cross. At the transept, an eight-part dome on a drum with stained glass windows in the middle of each of its eight faces. Outside, four pairs of buttresses level the thrust of the structure.