Skip to main content

Mundaca & La Trigueña


Top  photo is  part of the gardens and bottom photo is his empty grave & tombstone in the downtown Isla Mujeres cemetery From Yank in Yucatan by Rolfe F Schell, 1963
   
      After the British Navy stepped up enforcement against piracy, in 1858, pirate Fermin Mundaca, 33, came to Isla Mujeres. He purchased 40% of the island, having acquired his fortune through the trafficking of slaves from Africa to Cuba. There are indications that Mundaca was also involved with transporting Mayans to work as slaves in Cuban mines and haciendas, as well as Africans.
      He was the first to construct solid buildings on the isle, except for the old Mayan temples, whose stones he presumably used. The foundation of a temple to Ixchel has been found on his Hacienda, which he named "Vista Alegre".
       He was in his 50's when he became infatuated with a beautiful teenager known as "La Trigueña" (the brunette). She was Martiniana (Prisca) Gomez Pantoja, born in 1862, when Mundaca was 37. Her parents had moved from Dzidzantún Yucatan, and were presumably refugees from the Caste War, like the other settlers on the isle.
     Mundaca built beautiful gardens dedicated to her, with statuary and benches, including the exceptional "La Rosa de los Vientos" (The Rose of the Winds), which was full of exotic tropical plants. But she rejected his attentions.
      He carved himself a tombstone, dated 1877, when she would have been 15 years old, that says, "As you are, I was....and as I am, you will be." It is believed he went to Merida, in 1880 or 1882, sick with yellow fever, and died there, but his death certificate or grave haven't been located.
.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  This blog is brought to you by....
View from the rooms.

MaraVilla Caribe   Bed & Beach    Three rentals with large glass doors overlooking our white sand beach and the beautiful Caribbean sea, with  kitchenettes & free WIFI. In the coastal neighborhood of  Bachilleres, among upscale villas & boutique hotelitos, convenient to downtown or the colonias, yet separate.  Quiet & Private.   
 Kitchen in a large studio. (Sur & Norte are identical)
Kitchenette in small room, Medio. There's a table & chairs across from it & a double bed.
A large slider opens from each of the 3 rooms onto the patio where each has a table & chairs, hammock & clotheslines. The BBQ is behind the pole, and the outdoor shower is outa the pic at left.
Large studio (Norte), I'm standing in the kitchen. A queen & single bed.

Free amenities such as hammocks, bikes, outdoor shower, portable beach chairs & beach towels, washer, loungers. Breathtaking panoramic views from the rooftop terrace. Upstairs room also available.   Downtown is  ~ a mile away; if you don't feel like walking or biking, flag a $2 taxi. Parking. You can enjoy the music & crowds downtown, then come home our quiet neighborhood of Bachilleres where you'll  sleep to the sounds of the sea..  $275/$325/$425 wk   $40/50/$65nt  Monthly Discounts
Large studio (Sur) with Queen & Single bed. Slider door & view are behind me.

Fine dining a few steps away at Da Luisa or try the traditional neighborhood eateries a couple blocks farther. Within ten minutes walk are the restaurants Mango Cafe, Brisas, Manolitos,  Green Verde, Kash Kechen Chuc, and the large department store-grocery Chedraui. Visit marinas, bars, & beach clubs that are minutes away by bike or on foot. Attend Yoga classes a couple villas away at hotelito Casa Ixchel. Fresh juice, produce & tortillas a few blocks away in the village, as well as a variety of other stores and small local restaurants. It takes 20-30  minutes to walk downtown.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Chronological Table of Contents (Click on "Read More" to open the Chronological Table of Contents)

Chronologically: From Mayas to Tourism PRECOLONIAL     Ruins of a second temple to Ixchel were found on the Mundaca Hacienda a few years ago EARLY CONTACT Mayan Merchant-Sailors Traded Salt & Stingray Spines and Met Columbus PIRATES Hard times in the 1500's: Attacks by Conquistadors, Corsairs & Pirates Do you think of Isla Mujeres pirates when you hear the song "La Bamba"? SETTLED IN 1850 From Pirate Refuge to Established Settlement   From Five Fishermen to 1500 Refugees: Isla Mujeres in the 1840's Sending Slaves to Cuba, Conspiring With Rebels & Liberating Sailors from Cozumel: The Caste War The Census of 1866 (16 years after the town was founded) Mundaca & La Trigueña   Isla Mujeres in 1876 1876: The Fishermen & the Bay by Alice Le Plongeon AMONG THE TURTLE CATCHERS by Alice le Plongeon in 1876 This Town was Built by Farmers Who Learned to Fish and Survive Disasters & Disease 1900's The Hu...
Post a Comment
Read more

Remembering the Coco Plantation: El Chocolate Garrido I from article by Fidel Villanueva Marid

In this article, eighty-year-old islander "El Chocolate" Garrido talks about his life to Isla Mujeres historian Fidel Villanueva Madrid. This is part I and a copy in Spanish is below.      Don Chocolate related his story while sitting in his wheelchair, remembering the days when he was a coprero, milpero, carbonero, artesano, marino naval, lagartero, and pescador. (Copreros work on coconut plantations, milperos are farmers, carboneros make charcoal, and he was an artesan, Naval sailor, crocodile hunter, and a fisherman.)      He is one of those pure blooded islanders who each day watches his community lose some of the charm that made it famous.He was born June 18, 1933 and his full name is Perpetuo Socorro Garrido Tuz. His parents were islanders who lived and worked on the coast as copreros. He was born with a midwife in attendance, between coconut palms. He says, "As soon as I learned to walk, I helped plant coconuts, prun...
1 comment
Read more

From Dozens of Farmers & Fishermen to Millions of Tourists: The Changing Face of the Isle Statistically

Residency statistics....   In 1592 and again in 1597 , every human being on the islands of Isla Mujeres, Contoy, and Cozumel was seized and removed by Spanish conquistador Juan de Contreras and his men, including Maya rebels and Negroes from Guinea, who were hiding on the islands, fleeing from slavery. Until the 1820's , when the Lafitte brothers were expelled, Isla Mujeres was a refuge for pirates. After that, t he isle was only occupied a few months of the year by a handful of fishermen from the Yucatan peninsula and Cuba. A report in 1825 said there were about a dozen huts.   *Link to Pirate history articl e   Link to Mundaca article         .. In 1842 , a visiting American archeologist found the isle was vacant except for "two huts and a shelter made from branches, inhabited by three fishermen and two natives , who were fishing for turtles." In August, 1850 , the town of Dolores was founded by ~250 refugees from the Cas...
Post a Comment
Read more