T'Hó

T’Hó, also called Ichcaanzihó, was a Maya city on the limestone plain of northern Yucatán. Its name was associated with five great mounds, and its ceremonial and administrative buildings stood among the settlements of the region. By the time Spanish forces arrived, the ancient structures had already witnessed a long history of Maya occupation.

On 6 January 1542 Francisco de Montejo the Younger founded Mérida on the site of T’Hó. Stones from the Maya city were incorporated into the new colonial buildings, and a Franciscan convent established in 1545 became a centre of Franciscan evangelisation throughout the surrounding peninsula for generations. The new Spanish colonial city grew over the older Maya settlement, while Maya communities continued to inhabit its surrounding country and neighbourhoods.

The later city of Mérida lies here.