Izamal’s colonial center, painted a sunny ochre-yellow, is impressive. In this small town in Mexico, the Franciscan convent San Antonio de Padua claims the largest atrium in the Americas (only the Vatacan is said to be larger). San Antonio de Padua was visited by the Pope in 1993, and countless numbers have walked under its archways overlooking the city plaza since it was built in 1553.

But underneath all of that history is something even older…