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Hacienda Mundaca Review

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Hacienda Mundaca

Address: East of Av. Rueda Medina; take main road southeast from town to S-curve at end of Laguna Makax, turn left onto dirt road, Isla Mujeres, Quintana Roo, 77400
Phone: No phone

Category: Houses/Mansions
Location: Isla Mujeres

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Fodor's Review:

A dirt drive and stone archway mark the entrance to what's left of a mansion constructed by 19th-century slave trader-turned-pirate Fermín Mundaca de Marechaja. When the British navy began cracking down on slavers, Mundaca settled on the island. He fell in love with a local beauty nicknamed La Trigueña (The Brunette). To woo her, Mundaca built a sprawling estate with verdant gardens. Apparently unimpressed, La Trigueña instead married a young islander—and legend has it that Mundaca went slowly mad waiting for her to change her mind. He ended up dying in a brothel in Mérida.

The actual hacienda has vanished. All that remain are a rusted cannon and a ruined stone archway with a triangular pediment carved with the following inscription: huerta de la hacienda de vista alegre mdccclxxvi (Orchard of the Happy View Hacienda 1876). The gardens are also suffering from neglect, and the animals in a small on-site zoo seem as tired as the rest of the property. Mundaca would, however, approve of the cover charge; it's piracy.

Cost: $2
Open: Daily 9AM-5PM

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