Hacienda Tabi

Seven kilometers (4.3 miles) northwest of the Loltún caves [1], Hacienda Tabi (8 a.m.–4 p.m. daily, US$1) makes an interesting side trip if you enjoy poking around old haciendas and have some extra time.

The soaring 2,044-square-meter (22,000-square-foot) main structure has 24 rooms and faces a huge grassy area, with a windmill, stables, rum distillery, and sugar mill running along the edges. In front, through the trees, there’s also a massive, beautifully decaying chapel and two stout chimneys.

Tabi was founded in 1750 and operated for nearly 200 years—at its height, Tabi encompassed 14,000 hectares (35,000 acres) and is unique for cultivating sugar rather than henequen. The hacienda finally closed in 1948, and was declared a protected area in 1997.

A team of researchers sponsored by the Cultural Foundation of Yucatán in Mérida [2] have been studying the hacienda since 1996—with so much attention paid to the Yucatán’s ancient ruins, relatively little is known about life on the colonial-era haciendas, despite the fact that poor working conditions there helped spark the Caste War and later the Mexican Revolution.

Hacienda Tabi is the first and only hacienda in the Yucatán to be excavated using archaeological methodology. There is a small museum on-site, and you may be able to get a guided tour from the guard/docent. To get here, follow the signs from Loltún caves [1]; the last half kilometer (third of a mile) is dirt.