On a recent trip to Sisal, I noticed a stone-carved plaque on the corner of a reddish building as you enter the town. On your left, you will notice it - a sparse, severe building with a stone figure on the top which is another sign that something interesting and not your average “old building” is going on.
After spending a lot of time half-deciphering the plaque, which is written in the style I call “Old Spanish Sailor Illiterate” where the j’s and the g’s are, along with the c’s the s’s, and the z’s used indiscriminately, spacing is unheard of and letters are often doubled up to save space, I had enough to Google what I had made out and find the rest of the inscription. This further investigation - as often happens - of course led to some more interesting facts coming to light, in this case having to do with the figure on the top of the building who is the monifato in the name of this corner/bulding.
The plaque, on the corner of the building. Immediately the word ORTIZ (a surname) jumps out and also the date, 1585.
The text (above) says:
“ES DE EL ILUSTRE SENOR IOAN DE ORDVNA Y DE SV MVGER DONA GERONIMA ORTIZ Y DE SVS HEREDEROS MDLXXXV”
Translated to English, the plaque makes it known that the house belongs to one Señor Ioan (Juan) de Orduña and his woman (wife) Doña Geronima Ortiz and their heirs. Immediately following the text is the year: 1585.
The “ilustre” I got from the excellent article written on the subject by Angel Gutierrez (https://www.puntomedio.mx/el-monifato-de-sisal/) or I would have never guessed what that contraction meant.
In his article, he also states that the inscription shows that the building and the statue on its roof predate the Montejo house in Merida. The use of the barbarian figure, bearded, covered in hair and wearing a minimal amount of clothing and carrying a club, can also be found on the facade of our friend Montejo’s house on the formerly white city’s main square.
The theory is that the roof-top figure would serve as a focal point for the spy-glasses of arriving pirate or enemy ships whose captains would then direct their cannons to fire upon what was an apparent watchman, thereby sparing the more important buildings in Sisal.
On your visit to Sisal, keep an eye out for this and other interesting details. Like the strange remains of a well on the sidewalk nearby, that definitely looks old, Its mere existence indicates that it is historically significant. I’ll look into that also, in another post on this blog!