Merida Museums, Galleries, and other cultural attractions
You will be required to select three of the places listed below (not including those we visit as a group) to add to your travelogue (see specific instruction in handout which will be given to you when we get to Merida; worth 15 points/15% of your grade)
You will be required to select three of the places listed below (not including those we visit as a group) to add to your travelogue (see specific instruction in handout which will be given to you when we get to Merida; worth 15 points/15% of your grade)
New and exclusive for readers of this blog! You can add this to the choices of your places to go for your travelogue (not listed on handout given in class):
Merida's Municipal Zoo and Botanical Garden (Parque Zoologico del Centenario)
- corner Avenida Itzaes and Calle 59, west of the Plaza Grande in the Centro Historico
- great entrance dating from 1910, free admission
- hours from 6 a.m. till 6 p.m., Tuesday thru Sunday, closed some holidays
Museum of the Yucatecan Song (Museo de la Cancion Yucateca)
Merida's Municipal Zoo and Botanical Garden (Parque Zoologico del Centenario)
- corner Avenida Itzaes and Calle 59, west of the Plaza Grande in the Centro Historico
- great entrance dating from 1910, free admission
- hours from 6 a.m. till 6 p.m., Tuesday thru Sunday, closed some holidays
Museum of the Yucatecan Song (Museo de la Cancion Yucateca)
Calle 57 #466 x 48 near Calle 50
T-F 9-5; SS 9-3, closed Mondays
Admission $20 pesos
Murals by Fernando Castro Pacheco, Governor’s Palace (Palacio del Gobierno)
Government building, open every day
Admission free
Corner of Calle 61 and Calle 60
Yucatan Museum of Popular Art (Museo de Arte Popular de Yucatan)
Corner of Calle 57 and 59, facing the Mejorda Park/Calle 50 No. 487 between 57 & 59
Tues-Sat 9:30-6:30; Sun 9-2
Admission $30 pesos/Students $15 pesos, Sundays free
Exhibit – La Muerte Animada: A collection of Mache paper figures representing death
MACAY (Museo de Contemporaneo Ateneo de Yucatan) Yucatan Museum of Contemporary Art - permanent collections, outdoor sculpture, temporary exhibitions
Calle 60 between Calle 61 and 63
Wed-Mon 10-6, FS till 8, closed Tuesday; Admission Free
Merida City Museum (Museo de La Ciudad)
in former post office building; artifacts from the history of Merida, as well as from the Mayan city of T’ho, temporary exhibitions from local artists
Calle 65 by 56; T-F 9-8, SS 9-2; Admission Free
Current exhibitions: Edit & Exit: a vision of fashion as visual art
Upstairs: local artists
Art on the Street
Saturdays and Sundays in the Parque de la Maternidad.
Location: Calle 60 in the park between the Jose Peon Contreras Theater and the Iglesia de la Tercera Orden.
Hours: dusk til about midnite; Admission: Free
Museum of Anthropology
Current exhibit: Vajillas para Reyes, Vajillas para todos (Plates for Kings, Plates for Everyone). Plates, cups, bowls and other serving dishes used by Mayans from Guatemala, Belize and Chiapas.
Location: Paseo Montejo at Calle 45
Hours: Open Tuesday through Saturday 8:00am-8:00pm, Sunday 8:00am-2:00pm
Admission: $37 pesos (Free on Sundays)
Casa Catherwood
Museum devoted to the lithographs of Frederick Catherwood (Incidences of Travel in the Yucatan/John Lloyd Stephens)
Location: Calle 59 #572 at Calle 72, Centro
Open: Daily 9 :00am-2:00pm , 5 :00pm- 9 :00pm. Restaurant open from 5 pm til midnite.
Admission: Free downstairs. $50 pesos to see the lithographs in the upstairs gallery.
Juan Gamboa Guzman Paint Collection
Great collection of oil paintings, anonymous canvases of the colonial period and portraits of personages from the XVIII and XIX centuries. In addition, it exhibits 37 bronze sculptures with features and physiognomies proper of the Mayan people by Enrique Gottdiener Soto. Also shows objects and documents concerning the first railroad in Merida.
Address: 59th Street, Merida
Working hours: Tuesdays through Saturdays from 8:00 hours till 20:00 hours, and from 8:00 hours till 14:00 hours on Sundays.
Entrance: 10 pesos. For free on Sundays.
Numismatic Museum of Mexico
Collection of more than 2000 coins from different periods and minting materials, such as gold, silver and copper, amongst other alloys.
Address: 469, 60th Street, Merida.
Working hours: Saturdays and Sundays from 9:00 hours till 13:30 hours and from 16:30 hours till 20:30 hours.
Ateneo Peninsular Museum of Contemporary Art
Works of renowned Mexican painters and those of several famous foreign artists; besides notable samples of embroidery in Yucatan (Maya Chuy) and Mexican silverworks (Tane Orfebres), amongst other permanent exhibitions of great historic and cultural attraction that adorn its 17 rooms.
The seat of the Museum is an old building from the XVII century that was previously occupied by different commercial establishments. It would later be a military post.
Address: 60th Street, Merida.; Working hours: Wednesday to Mondays from 10:00 hours till 18:00 hours. Entrance: 5 pesos Mexicans and 20 pesos foreigners.
La Periferia
Center for cultural documentation, investigation and production. Young Yucatecan artists create and report on the art scene.
Location: Calle 54 #468 between 53 and 55; Hours: M-F from 4-8 p.m.; Admission: Free
Website: www.galerialperiferia.com/
Olimpo
The Centro Cultural de Merida Olimpo is a cultural institute located in the center of downtown just across from the Plaza Grande. It houses a planetarium, bookstore, café, and a multi-roomed art exhibition space. Current exhibit: Rufino Tamayo – Mexican painter from Oaxaca
Location: Corner of Calle 62 & 61 Centro Historico; Hours: T-Sun 10 a.m. – 8 p.m.
Admission: free
Website: www.merida.gob.mx.turismo/
Galeria Manolo Rivero
Inside one of the city’s most fascinating hotels (Hotel Trinidad Galeria). Gallery promotes emerging artists from around the world. In addition to the gallery space, check the lobby and hallways of the hotel.
Hotel website: http://www.hotelestrinidad.com/
Gallery website: Http://frontground.blogspot.com/
Location: Calle 60 at the corner of Calle 51; Hours: check the website; Admission: free
Merida Sculpture Walk
Location: Paseo de Montejo, going south from the Anthropology Museum, begins in the circle at Calle 47 and Paseo Montejo and ends at the corner of Avenida Colon, just beyond the U.S. Embassy. The city of Merida has installed a semi-permanent collection of changing outdoor sculptures.
Railroad Museum
Location: in a field on Calle 43 between Calle 48 and Calle 50
More than 40 old railroad cars and lots of memorabilia from the bygone days of the railroad.
