Historical landmark
Convento de San Bernardino de Siena
Whitewashed Franciscan convent raised over a hidden cenote that later concealed a small arsenal.
Location
About this audio guide
This guide to the Convento de San Bernardino de Siena in Valladolid, Yucatan, follows the sixteenth century Franciscan mission built over a sacred cenote, and the secret the water kept for two hundred years. It traces the Caste War of eighteen forty-seven, when a retreating garrison faced Maya rebel forces sweeping across the peninsula, and turns to the recent dive that went looking for what they left behind. Listen from the same courtyard the friars once irrigated, standing over what the water kept quiet.
This audio guide was created using AI.