Modern Mayan City of the Dead is a photograph by Mark Tisdale which was uploaded on May 7th, 2013.
Modern Mayan City of the Dead
On a local bus that made quite a few stop on the way to Chichen Itza, I had my first sighting of a cemetery in the Yucatan. The site was not one that... more
by Mark Tisdale
Title
Modern Mayan City of the Dead
Artist
Mark Tisdale
Medium
Photograph - Photo
Description
On a local bus that made quite a few stop on the way to Chichen Itza, I had my first sighting of a cemetery in the Yucatan. The site was not one that I will forget. It was a small cemetery but the elaborate shrines and the colors. I dubbed it New Orleans meets Miami on the spot. It had the pastels of Miami and the graves reminded me of photos I've seen of the mausoleums in New Orleans.
It would be several days later before i inadvertently chanced upon a much larger cemetery in Merida. There are a couple of possibilities, but I think this is the Cementerio Xoclan. Whichever cemetery it may be, it was massive and washed in pastels and filled with family shrines. I'm not sure I've ever seen death so colorfully depicted and somehow it just all felt perfect. What a wonderful way to remember the dead, not in somber hues but in the colors of life itself.
I was sold when I saw it out the bus window, but the Cementerio Xoclan in Merida sealed the deal. I love the modern Mayan way of dealing with death.
Uploaded
May 7th, 2013