Uayma, Mexico | Yucatan’s Best Kept Secret, the Incredible Church of the Ex-Convent Santo Domingo in Uayma

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

Leaving Valladolid

Uayma was on our way to our next stop in Merida and only a short detour from our route to the ruins of Chichen Itza. We started the day with an early breakfast at Hotel Zentik Project in Valladolid and we were rather sad to leave this peaceful place behind us, but also were looking forward to exploring other parts of the Yucatan peninsular.

Churches on the Yucatan Peninsular

The churches we had seen so far on our trip on the Yucatan peninsular were rather simple and plain, unlike most catholic churches in Europe. I had seen a picture of the church in Uayma before we set out to go on holiday and was desperate to go and visit. The picture looked unlike any other church I had ever seen before. I was not able to find out anything about the history of the church online or during our visit, so as we all love visiting places away from the beaten tourist tracks finding a moment in our tour to go there was essential.

Uayma Village

Uayma itself is a small village, only a 20 minute drive from Valladolid, it would not be worth the trip apart from the church. We drove into the village and soon enough got to the square, with the church of the ex convent de Santo Domingo on the southern side. We parked our car and got out. There was a group of school children building altars for the Dia de Los Muertos (Mexican Day of the Dead celebration) out of wood near the village centre. The children stared at us, presumably as the village is not often frequented by tourists.

What an Incredible Church

Uama’s church was even more beautiful than I had imagined, but in a different way to other catholic churches with no gold and few religious icons. What made it so striking was the décor both inside and out, with stucco flowers carved into the walls and then painted with red, white and blue. I thought it makes a real piece of art that could get higher recognition as a sight to visit.

Inside the Ex-Convent of Santo Domingo

Inside the ex-Convent of Santo Domingo we found the ceiling and walls painted and stuccoed with even more intricate and colourful flowers than outside. Unfortunately some of them looked like they could do with some restoration. Sadly in some places the paint is peeling and parts were missing on some of the flowers, in fact the inside in general looked in need of a lot of money in order to be restored to its former glory. The not so perfect state of Uayma’s church did add to its charm though and I spent ages taking photos, in- and outside.

The Village Green

The rest of the family could not share my lengthy fascination with the church and headed back outside to look at the alters being built on the village green. It was interesting to see the school children pulling the palm leaves for thatch and sawing wood to make frames for what looked like huts. Later in the trip we would find out more about these altars and why the children are the ones to build them.  After a brief wander round the playground in the town square we moved on leaving the half finished huts behind.

Must See Sight in the Yucatan

We were glad to have stopped at this secret spot on the Yucatan peninsular to explore the incredible ex-convent Santo Domingo in Uayma before our visit to the famous Mayan pyramids and site at Chichen Itza.

---

---

Follow us on Social Media

FACEBOOK: wanderlustplusone INSTAGRAM wanderlustplusone

TWITTER: wanderlustplus1