Casa Montejo

16th-century conquistador mansion with Maya figures trampled underfoot on its façade

The Casa Montejo, occupying the southern face of the Plaza Mayor, was built in 1549 by Francisco de Montejo el Mozo, son of the founder of Mérida. It is the oldest surviving domestic colonial structure on the American mainland and is notable primarily for its extraordinary Plateresque façade — a dense relief carving in which armoured conquistadors stand on the heads of defeated Maya warriors, flanked by wild men and family crests. It is a confrontational piece of architecture that tells you exactly what the Spanish thought about their conquest.

The building is now a Banamex bank, but public access to the interior courtyard is free during banking hours and worth taking. The colonial interior has been carefully maintained. The ground floor retains much of its original character — thick stone walls, high ceilings, heavy wooden doors. There is a small museum area with information about the building's history and the Montejo family. The Plaza Mayor–facing façade is best studied in the morning, when the light falls on the stone carvings and you can see the detail without squinting.

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A story
The carved stone façade, completed around 1549, features armoured conquistadors standing triumphantly on the heads of Maya figures. It is one of the most explicit depictions of colonial conquest in any public building in the Americas — the Montejo family had no intention of being subtle about who had won. Francisco de Montejo el Mozo, who commissioned the façade, was the son of the conquistador who founded Mérida; the figures with the conquistador helmets are believed to be portraits of both men.