Page "Mérida, Yucatán" Paragraph 19

Mérida has been nicknamed " The White City ", though the exact origin of this moniker is not clear.

Some explanations include the common color of its old buildings painted and decorated with " cal " ( though anyone visiting modern Mérida can see that buildings are not all white nowadays ) or the fact that the residents keep the city particularly clean.

Mérida was named after the Spanish town of the same name, originally ( in Latin ) Augusta Emerita ( see Mérida, Spain ).

Mérida served as the American Capital of Culture in the year 2000.