Cenotillo

Cenotillo is the seat of a small municipality in eastern Yucatán, roughly 100 km east of Mérida on the road between Izamal and Tizimín, and about 45 km northwest of Valladolid. The name is the Spanish diminutive of cenote (from the Maya ts'ono'ot): the story goes that the town was named after a small water hole in the village itself. The 2020 census counted 3,328 people in the town, almost the whole municipality's population.

Before the conquest the area belonged to the Cupul Maya. In colonial times it was held in encomienda, by Diego Burgos and Diego López de Ricalde in 1583 and by José Domingo Pardío in 1744. After independence it became a municipal seat, at first with Tixbacab, Sucilá and Panabá under it, and it was given the title of villa in 1886. Two churches survive from the 17th century, one dedicated to Santa Clara and the other to the Virgin of the Nativity, and the town hall has a clock tower from 1884 that still strikes the hours over the main square with its kiosk and gardens.

Cenotillo's real draw is underground. State environmental authorities list 12 cenotes in the municipality, while locals say there are more than 130. The best known is Usil, 2 km from town on the Buctzotz–Tizimín road: a semi-enclosed cenote inside a cave, reached by stairs, with a pool about 20 m by 6 m that drops to around 112 m, which attracts divers. Cenote Xooch, about 4 km away, has palapas and life jackets and is known to cave divers. Behind the Santa Clara church there is a small cenote you can look into. Many cenotes are on communal land, so ask in town; mototaxis and tricycle taxis from the centre run out to them. The town's big fiesta is for Santa Clara, from 3 to 12 August.