In the city of Mérida , capital of the state, dedicated to San Ildefonso , is the headquarters of the archdiocese of Yucatan and the first cathedral erected in continental America (mainland), and is also the oldest in Mexico . Only the Cathedral of Santo Domingo , in all of America, is older than that of Yucatan. Once the Spanish city was built on the old T'Hó , the conquerors were given the task of building the church of the place, which was carried out between 1562 and 1598. After the authorization of Pope Pius IV and the request of King Philip II , this was erected in the cathedral of the capital of the Yucatan, seat of the corresponding bishopric. The works of the construction of the enclosure were commissioned to Pedro de Aulestia, and completed by Juan Miguel de Agüero and his collaborator, Gregorio de la Torre. 1 During the 19th century , some of the treasures and works of art were stolen due to the looting and political instability that the city suffered in this period. In 1915 at the entrance of the revolutionary hosts commanded by Salvador Alvarado , the Cathedral was sacked, losing its invaluable collection of sacred art, including baroque and churrigueresque altarpieces dating from the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, the cathedral treasury and the Walcker organ of German factory, just built in 1902. In 1916 the Chapel of San José and the Chapel of the Rosary were demolished in order to separate the cathedral from the headquarters of the Episcopal Palace (current Museum of Contemporary Art) remaining what it currently is, a pedestrian walker called "Passage of the Revolution" which had arches at both ends and a metal and glass frame roof which were subsequently removed after deterioration. The arches were demolished and many years later, in 2011, they were restored by returning them to their original shape, including the metal frame roof, which instead of glass, was covered with acrylic plastic