Yucatán: Asunción Dzitbalché

For the last in our current series on smaller Yucatán churches, we visit that of Asunción Dzitbalché, a village noted for its colonial trove of ancient Mayan ritual songs and poetry (Los Cantares de Dzitbalché)

The rustic church of Asunción Dzitbalche, a former visita of nearby Calkini now in the state of Campeche, shows traits typical of many Yucatan missions: a mid-16th century colonial open chapel and belfry at the east end fronted by a castellated masonry nave and simple facade capped by a curved espadaña, added in the late 1700s.

As the name indicates Dzitbalche is noted for its venerated image of the Virgin of the Assumption, which is carried from the church in procession through local communities on her August 16 feast day.

 

text © 2019 Richard D. Perry

images by the author and from online sources