For an unforgettable night out, try Noches de Leyendas: a combination tour / play with a historical and tourism focus, offering its participants a fun evening with knowledge as the main goal. There are nine scenes with actors in each one. It includes historical landscapes of colonial history to independence. The actors are incredible and there is plenty of intrigue and humor from beginning to end.
The participants walk through the streets of Historic Centro Mérida, guided by a narrator who tells chronicles, stories and legends (in Spanish) about the city center during colonization. This narrator is dressed in period costume and through the duration of the tour he mentions important historical sites with the dates and personalities of those who participated in the building of our city, from the XVI, XVII and XVIII centuries until 1813, with the final scene recreating the signing of the act of independence by Andrés Quintana Roo.
The members of the audience become actors too; the actors and narrator speak directly to them and involve them in the scenes.
The scenes and characters are:
1. Parque Santa Lucía. The narrator, Don Clemente Cárdenas, describes the cemetery where slaves used to reside. Here we meet Fernando Del Castillo, slave merchant.
2. Teatro Peón Contreras. Here the theater and also UADY are described. This is where we meet Confetti (Harlequin).
3. The church of Tercera Orden, built in XVII century, belonging to the Jesuits.
4. The Cathedral of Mérida. On one side was the episcopal house, where Fray Diego de Landa lived and died at the age of 52; and here we meet him.
5. The plaza of XCANZI´HO. Here we meet Mayan king A`a Chakan (in the photo at the beginning of this article), and a musician.
6. La Casa de los Montejos. Here we meet Francisco de Montejo.
7. The tunnels under the Casa de Los Ladrillos. Here the narrator takes the group inside, where another scene takes place.
8. The Convent of the concepcionist nuns. Here we meet two nuns who tell us a legend. They are very animated and it is lots of fun.
9. The Hotel Reforma, which housed the very first theater in the XVI century. Here we meet Leona Vicario, who was a secret and invaluable supporter of the independence movement. We also meet Andrés Quintana Roo, who presided over the constitutional assembly which formulated the declaration of Independence of 1813 which he signs in this scene.
Tickets: In Parque Santa Lucía before the tour begins.
Every Friday and Saturday, 8:30 pm, Parque Santa Lucía, Calle 60 x 55, Centro.
250 pesos foreigners, 200 pesos Mexican nationals, 150 pesos local residents; students and seniors 75 pesos.
Duration: two hours. For adults and children over 12.
“A cultured person is one who knows the history of the place where he lives.”
By Juanita Stein
editor@yucatantoday.com
