Chablekal

Chablekal is a comisaría of Mérida municipality about 21 km north of the city centre, east of the highway to Progreso. It borders the archaeological site and subcomisaría of Dzibilchaltún to the west, Sac Nicté to the north and Temozón Norte to the south. With 5,034 inhabitants in the 2020 census, it is one of the larger villages around Mérida, and it has grown fast: it had 137 people in 1900 and 2,784 in 2000. The name joins Chablé, a Maya family name, with kal, read as a hole or the mouth of a cenote.

The village's landmark is the small whitewashed church of Santa Úrsula, on the main square, with a belfry of open arches. It was built with stones taken from pre-Hispanic buildings, and several blocks set into its walls still show carved Maya glyphs and patterns. In colonial times Chablekal, also recorded as Chablé or Chablecal, was one of the villages served by the Franciscan convent of San Francisco de Asís in Conkal, founded in 1549. In 1881 the villagers collected 150 pesos to repair their church after a fire. The casa comisarial, a long arcaded building, faces the square.

Chablekal's history is tied to its land. In 1927 it received 4,097 hectares as an ejido, enlarged by 1,708 hectares in 1939, and part of that ejido surrounds Dzibilchaltún. In 2021 ejido members blocked access to the archaeological site for several months over compensation for their land; in August 2024 the federal government expropriated about 53 hectares of the ejido in favour of INAH for research and conservation. The village celebrates its patron, Santa Úrsula, in October with vaquerías and jarana dancing.