All about Parque Hidalgo in Mérida, Mexico

Parque Hildalgo or Parque de los Hidalgos is a small park - or square - with some benches and a few shady trees right in the historic center next to the church Iglesia de Jesus and one block from Plaza Grande.

A large part of the square is occupied by the "Monumento a Manuel Cepeda Peraza" - a statue of the infamous 19th century hero, General Manuel Cepeda. The park also played a prominent role in Francisco Montejo's original city plan.

It is also worth visiting the square in the evening, when there is often a night market and you can buy hand-made jewelry, clothes, purses, hammocks and artisan craft souvenirs.

And if you haven't already, take a seat on one of the white "Kissing Chairs". Park Hidalgo is also the site of the old Grand Hotel de Mérida and Hotel Caribe Mérida.

Another building near Hidalgo Park that is worth mentioning (and makes a nice photo motif) is La Bella Epoca building (on Calle 60).

Free Wi-Fi is available, as is the case with most places. Parque a la Maternidad (Mother's Park) can be found a few meters on the opposite side of the church Iglesia de Jesus.

Grand Hotel de Mérida

At the Parque de Hidalgo you will also find the venerable Grand Hotel de Mérida in a beautiful neoclassical building. It's worth taking a look inside because of the historic lobby.

The nice colonial building also houses a Starbucks and a Helados Santa Clara ice cream parlor. And there is also another café and bistro in the square. This makes it a great place for a stopover when it's hot in Mérida.

The secrets of the park

Calle 60, which borders the park on one side, is a popular and colorful shopping street in Mérida. On the one hand.

On the other hand, since at least 1840 - a very long time ago - there have been repeated reports that the spirit of a young woman near the Parque Hidalgo can be heard at sunset uttering incantations in an ancient Yucatec Mayan dialect with a soft melodious voice.

The Maya believed that the voice belonged to an aloxob trickster spirit, which they considered to be evil (these creatures are said to live in caves, under stones or in fields). As a result, there were few homes in the area for a long time because nobody wanted to live near the spirit.

In the evenings, the sounds of many birds can be heard in the park and some believe that they drown out the voice of the spirit in order to protect the living from the woman.

When the American actress Katharine Hepburn was in Mérida in May 1939, she also reported the supernatural voice she heard near the park. She came to the conclusion that it must have been a "Mayan fairy". In the 1950s, several purification ceremonies were held in the park to give the young woman's soul permission to leave this world.

A shaman said he had made contact with the young woman. She told him that she had been sacrificed as a virgin to the Chaac, the Maya god of rain, thunder, and lightning, in 584 AD and that she had been torn from her suspended state of immortality.

Finally, in December 2011, municipal workers from Mérida stumbled upon an old Maya burial site deep in the earth beneath the park that predated the arrival of the Spanish by several hundred years and found human remains.

Had they perhaps discovered the human remains of the Maya sacrificial virgin? The discovery of the human remains caused a sensation throughout Mexico and all work was halted to allow archaeologists to excavate and study this burial site.

Many spiritualists from all over the world have since come to Mérida to establish a connection with the soul that inhabits this place, but it has fallen silent since the tomb was uncovered.

No one knows the reason. If you visit the park in the evening, sit on one of the park benches, close your eyes and listen into the night - perhaps the spirit will reveal itself to you?