Haciendas in Yucatan



Haciendas in Mexico were the basis of an economic system begun by the Spaniards in the 16th century, similar to the feudal system of Europe. They were efficient farming and manufacturing centers that produced meat, produce, and other products for export. Over time, haciendas became symbols of wealth and culture, adorned with architecture, furnishings and art from around the world.

Like the southern plantations of the United States, haciendas enforced a social system of castes, based on race, with the haciendados, or landowners, as masters and the indigenios, or Mayas, as slaves. Most Yucatecan haciendas in the 19th century produced rope from henequen, a variety of the agave cactus, which was exported for the booming shipping industry. Haciendas maintained huge fields of henequen, tended by hundreds of men. The main house, or Casa Principal was usually the largest building, where the haciendado kept his living quarters and where most of the administration occurred. 

Henequen processing took place in the machine house, or Casa de Máquinas. There was usually a Capilla, or chapel, a Casa del Majordomo, where the jefe, or foreman, lived, and many other smaller buildings for storage and living quarters.




After the Yucatán Caste War and the subsequent invention of synthetic fibers, most haciendas were abandoned to decay in the jungles. A trip to the Yucatán is incomplete without visiting some of the many haciendas within a few minutes drive of Merida.

Some haciendas in the Yucatán have been renovated into beautiful five star hotels, complete with elegant rooms, sumptuous dining facilities, swimming pools and magnificent grounds. These have inspired modern Casa Yucatán architecture and interior design.

Other haciendas are museums, providing a glimpse into former colonial times. Others are lived in by locals whose ancestors reclaimed them during the Mexican Revolution. And still others remain unrestored and open to the ravages of time.