Dzibikak

Dzibikak belongs to Umán municipality and lies roughly 5 km north-west of Umán town as the crow flies, or about 19 km from downtown Mérida in a west-south-westerly direction. Few comisarías in the municipality are bigger: the 2020 count found 1,573 residents, compared with about 1,069 in 2000 and 290 in 1900. Its Maya name is most often translated as 'written with fire'.

It started as a Maya farming community growing maize, beans and cotton, which were carried to the coast and swapped for fish and salt. After the conquest the Spanish handed the area out in encomienda, and in time the haciendas of the Hunucmá district developed from these settlements. Dzibikak was operating as a hacienda by 1860; 231 people lived there in 1879, and in 1882 the same owner also had Sac Nicté next door. Henequen's collapse, together with a warehouse fire that brought down walls and roofs, left the buildings to rot, and in 1937 land reform made the fields ejido property.

Richard and Lena Nichols bought the ruined estate buildings in 2005 and spent around six years bringing them back. Today the hacienda is both a private residence and a venue for weddings, quinceañeras, photo shoots and company events; ballet performances and concerts have been held there too. Passing in the street you can make out walls covered in ivy, a very tall brick chimney and the chapel. In the village there is a small church on the main road and an old well marked by a tall brick column.