Remembering the Lives Lost in the 1943 Izamal Convent Collapse

Eighty-three years ago today, a stone staircase at Izamal’s Franciscan convent gave way beneath a crowd of spectators. Nearly 50 people died, most of them children.

The collapse happened at about 4 p.m. on Oct. 25, 1943. A large crowd had gathered on the south staircase of the parish church’s atrium to watch an improvised charlotada, a comic bullfight. When the stairs failed, the people standing on them were buried under the rubble.

The next day, Diario de Yucatán ran the news across six columns of its front page, calling it a “tremendous catastrophe.” The paper’s first count was 36 dead. Over the following days, according to later accounts, the toll rose to 44 by some reports and 48 by others. Many more were hurt, some of them badly.

The ages of the victims made the loss especially hard for the town. Of the dead, 35 were minors. The youngest were 4 and 5 years old. Reports from the time said entire families died that afternoon.

A charlotada was a parody of a bullfight, meant to get laughs rather than gasps. The genre began in Catalonia, Spain, in 1916. It took its name from Charlot, the Spanish name for Charlie Chaplin’s Little Tramp. Performers borrowed the costumes and moves of a real bullfight but dropped the picadors, the barbed banderillas and the kill. Comic bullfights stayed popular into the 1960s and were a common part of town festivals.

The setting added to the danger. The Convent of San Antonio de Padua sits on the platform of a Maya pyramid known as Pap Hol Chac. After the conquest, the Spanish tore down the temple on top and used its stones to build the convent. Franciscan friars, led by Fray Diego de Landa, founded it in 1549 and finished it in 1561.

Because the complex stands on that raised base, visitors climb ramps and stairs from the streets below to reach the atrium. The atrium itself covers 7,806 square meters, or about 1.9 acres. It is ringed by 75 arches and is often described as the largest enclosed atrium in the Americas, second in the world only to St. Peter’s Square in Rome.

Izamal was not the only Yucatán town to suffer this kind of loss. On Feb. 13, 1955, the bullring in Hunucmá collapsed during the second bullfight of the town’s annual fair honoring the Virgin of Tetiz. Fifteen people died, including a 6-year-old boy.

Today the atrium is still the center of Izamal’s religious life. The Aug. 15 fiesta of the Virgin of Izamal is held there, and the Dec. 8 feast draws pilgrims from across the Peninsula. Pope John Paul II celebrated Mass in Izamal in 1993.

The building’s condition is still a concern. In October 2023, parts of the arcade on the atrium’s east side began crumbling again, and a roof beam fell near the convent entrance. That happened despite repairs supervised by Mexico’s National Institute of Anthropology and History from 2015 to 2017.

Residents have asked authorities to step in. Repairs are complicated because the Archdiocese of Yucatán owns the building while the Franciscan order has the right to use it. Meanwhile, the convent’s continued deterioration is plain for visitors to see.

Fast Facts: The 1943 Izamal collapse

• When: About 4 p.m., Monday, Oct. 25, 1943
• Where: South staircase of the atrium, Convent of San Antonio de Padua
• Event: An improvised charlotada, or comic bullfight
• Deaths: 36 first reported, with later counts of 44 to 48
• Victims: 35 minors, the youngest 4 and 5 years old
• Atrium size: 7,806 square meters (about 1.9 acres), with 75 arches
• Location: Izamal is about 70 kilometers (43 miles) east of Mérida

With reporting from Diario de Yucatán, Diario de Cuba, Lonely Planet and the National Institute of Anthropology and History

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Gaps for your review (not for publication)

• Cause: I found nothing on why the staircase failed, or whether there was an investigation. I left cause out of the story.
• Death toll: Sources disagree: 36 at first, then 44 or 48 later. Your source text says “cerca de 50.” I used “nearly 50” in the lede and gave the range in the body.
• Names: I found no names of victims, organizers or officials, so the story names no one.
• Occasion: I couldn’t find why a charlotada was held that day. Oct. 25 is also the anniversary of Izamal becoming a villa in 1823. That could be a lead, but nothing I found connects the two, so I left it out.
• Primary source: The original 1943 Diario coverage isn’t reachable online. The details here come from Diario’s 2020 retrospective and a mirror of its “six historical tragedies” roundup.
• Hunucmá: Diario mentions a 47-year-old woman from Izamal among the critically injured in 1955, but it doesn’t say whether she died. I didn’t include her.

Source links (for your use only)

• Diario de Yucatán, “Dos tragedias de finales de octubre en Yucatán” (2020): https://www.yucatan.com.mx/yucatan/2020/10/27/dos-tragedias-de-finales-de-octubre-en-yucatan-217506.html
• “Seis tragedias históricas que enlutaron a muchas familias en Yucatán” (Diario syndication): https://theworldnews.net/mx-news/seis-tragedias-historicas-que-enlutaron-a-muchas-familias-en-yucatan-fotos
• Diario de Yucatán, Hunucmá bullring collapse anniversary: https://www.yucatan.com.mx/yucatan/2020/02/13/mortal-derrumbe.html
• Diario de Yucatán, atrium deterioration (2023): https://www.yucatan.com.mx/yucatan/2023/10/31/acuden-al-inah-por-el-atrio-del-covento-de-izamal-que-se-cae-a-pedazos.html
• Diario de Cuba, origin of the charlotada: https://diariodecuba.com/cultura/1765108804_64227.html
• Lonely Planet, Convento de San Antonio de Padua: https://www.lonelyplanet.com/mexico/yucatan-peninsula/izamal/attractions/convento-de-san-antonio-de-padua/a/poi-sig/501692/361709
• INAH photo repository, Izamal convent: https://repositorio.inah.gob.mx/o-139996
• Por Esto, atrium dimensions: https://www.poresto.com/turismo/mexico/2020/9/7/plaza-izamal-asi-lucia-el-emblematico-convento-en-1863-foto.html
• Internal link, Yucatán Magazine: https://yucatanmagazine.com/convento-de-san-antonio-de-padua-decaying/