Ermita de Santa Isabel

The Ermita de Santa Isabel is a small chapel in the San Sebastián neighbourhood of Mérida's historic centre, on Calle 66 at the corner of Calle 79, about 1.3 km southwest of the Plaza Grande. It stood at what used to be the beginning of the camino real, the royal road from Mérida to San Francisco de Campeche, just beyond the old city gate whose arch still stands at Calles 64 and 69. Because of that position it was long known as the chapel of Nuestra Señora del Buen Viaje, Our Lady of the Good Journey: travellers setting out for Campeche, or arriving in Yucatán, could stop and rest here.

The date of its founding is not known exactly. An inscription over the main door carries the year 1748, and tradition credits its construction to Gaspar González de Ledezma in the 17th century. It is dedicated to Saint Elizabeth, mother of Saint John the Baptist. The building is simple: a square façade with a heavy cornice and a stepped, pyramid-shaped belfry with three bell openings, raised above the street on a flight of steps.

The chapel faces a small, shady park with a kiosk, benches and play areas, surrounded by colonial-style houses. Its best-kept secret is to the right of the church: through a door you have to knock on is a small garden patio planted only with native Yucatán species, medicinal and ornamental plants, trees, ferns and flowering shrubs, a calm place to sit and read. Entry is free, and someone is usually there to let visitors in. The Ermita is an easy walk from the centre and pairs well with the San Sebastián church and the old arch on the way.