Vanishing Legacy: Roads, Rails & Ruins of Yucatán — What do Maya ceremonial highways, colonial-era railways, and abandoned haciendas all have in common? They’re more than just ruins — they’re the fading footprints of power, belief, and transformation across centuries of Yucatán history.
Join us for a visually rich and thought-provoking MEL Talk with Tony Sherrin, long-time Mérida resident, classical scholar, and passionate explorer of Maya and colonial heritage. In this engaging presentation, Tony will guide us through three powerful legacies of movement and meaning in Yucatán:
The sacbe’ob, or ancient Maya roads, where gods once walked and rituals took place under the stars
The railways that carried the weight of the henequén economy — and the rise and fall of the Porfirian elite
The haciendas, once symbols of wealth and control, now standing in ghostly silence or blooming with new life
With over 100 images and stories drawn from years of research and exploration, this talk will take you beyond the tourist maps and into the layers of history hidden beneath the streets, stones, and structures we pass every day.
About the Speaker
Tony Sherrin is originally from Australia and has called México home for over 24 years. A former teacher of Classical Studies, English, and Spanish, he now devotes his time to researching and sharing the legacy of Maya architecture, astronomy, and colonial-era Yucatán. A veteran MEL speaker, Tony is known for bringing deep scholarship and clear storytelling to some of the region’s most fascinating topics.