Haciendas | Green Gold

After the Spanish Conquest Mayan lands were seized by the conquistadors and given to Spaniards who had participated in the military campaign and to newly arrived settlers. The first haciendas or estates grew corn, cotton or sugar or raised cattle while the Maya, who were forced to work for their colonial overlords, still cultivated native plants for food, medicinal purposes and to make items of everyday use.

One such plant is henequen or sisal (Agave fourcroydes), a gray-green agave plant used by the Maya since time immemorial to make rope and baskets. The Spaniards ignored this useful plant until the late nineteenth century when agricultural mechanization in the United States created a demand for rope and sacking and the potential of henequen was revealed. Large-scale cultivation began on haciendas throughout the area and estate owners became fabulously rich from the oro verde or green gold. Some haciendas had as many as 2,500 Mayan workers who lived in extreme poverty, as virtual slaves permanently in debt to the estate truck shop.

The boom was short-lived and by the 1930s’ the industry was in decline, many haciendas were abandoned and fell into ruin. In recent years, a number of haciendas have been restored as private residences, boutique hotels, restaurants and museums.

Crumbling arches, fragrant gardens, antique furniture in the casa principal or estate owner’s house, the estate chapel and rusting machinery against a backdrop of henequen fields, a hacienda visit gives you a fascinating glimpse of the henequen production process and the very different lives led by the plantation owner and his workers.

Exploring a Hacienda

• Hacienda Yaxcopoil
  Yaxcopoil or “place of the green poplars” in Maya was founded in the seventeenth century as a cattle ranch before being turned over to henequen cultivation. The estate house has its original turn of the century furnishings and machinery. Mayan ruins, including a ball court, dot the estate and pottery, sculptures and other artifacts unearthed in the area are on display in the Maya Room, one of the halls in the estate house. Located 33 km from Mérida on Hwy. 261.
• Hacienda Ochil
  Visitors can watch henequen being processed and craftsmen working during a visit to Hacienda Ochil. The estate dates from the seventeenth century. The estate chapel has been converted into workshops where a master jeweler makes the delicate gold and silver filigree pieces for which Yucatán is famous, women weave hammocks and embroider the white cotton dresses known as hipiles and men carve wood and stone. There is also a restaurant serving traditional Yucatecan cuisine. Hacienda Ochil is 36 km from Mérida in Abalá district.
• Hacienda Teya
  A woman called Ildefonsa Antonia Marcos Bermejo Calderón y de la Helguera, wife of the Conde de Miraflores, founded Hacienda San Ildefonso Teya in 1683, an unusual event for the era, as powerful women were rare. Originally a livestock and corn growing estate, Teyá was turned over to henequen in the nineteenth century. It was restored by a local family in 1985 and is now the site of an acclaimed restaurant specializing in Yucatecan cuisine. Take a look at the chapel, the staterooms and the pavilion that is transformed into a ballroom for events such as weddings. Located on the outskirts of Mérida, at km 12.5 on Hwy 180.
• San Nicolas Dzoyaxche
  This hacienda is one of seven estates located in the Cuxtal nature reserve, 20 km to the south of Mérida. During a visit you can visit the old machine house where henequen was processed, ride in one of the wagons used to transport the crop and swim in a cenote.
• Other haciendas in the Mérida hinterland
  San Antonio Cucul, Hacienda Petcanche, Tahdzibichen, Poxilá, San Pedro Chimay, Tabi, Santa Rosa de Lima, Temozón Sur, San José Cholul, Xcanatún, Katanchel, Kancabchen and Hacienda Petac.