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Mayan
Cities at the Mayan Riviera.
Chichen Itza:
The best known Mayan ruin site is located along side Hwy. 180, 121 km east of Merida. The size and majesty of this ancient Mayan city are unforgettable. Chichen Itza covers approximately 6 square kilometers although only 20 or so structures of the several hundred at the site have been fully restored.
This site gives testament to the mathematical advancement of a culture far ahead of its' time. Such is the precision of the alignment of the axis of the most famous temple, El Castillo, that twice a year, at the Spring and Fall Equinox, one can observe the silhouette of the undulating body of the sacred serpent Kukulcan. In Spring, Kukulcan slides down the pyramid to the Sacred Cenote below, and in Fall, he returns up the side of the pyramid. For lovers of history and mystery, this is a place not to be missed. In the evening hours, there is a Sound and Light show which brings alive the magnificence of the Mayan history.
To get there, many tourist bureaus in Merida offer day and over night trips. If you drive, you can take the toll hwy .Route 180 east toward Cancun and exit at Chichen Itza. The more scenic route is along Route 80, which ends at Tekanto, turn south to Citilcum, east to Dzitas, then south again to Piste.
The Tulum Ruins are found south of Cancun on highway 307
about 80 miles. An important coastal trade city in the Mundo
Maya, Tulum was a walled settlement inhabited from the 3rd
century AD to the 10th century AD. Here, the edifice, El
Castillo
(The Castle), is built on a high cliff overlooking the
Caribbean Sea and creates a stunning vista, especially at
sunrise.
The Coba ruins are located 42
km. west of Tulum. With many buildings still covered by jungle,
Coba is over 80 sq. miles with 5 lakes. Nohoch Mul is the
tallest pyramid in the Yucatan peninsula. It is 12 stories
tall and has 120 steps to the top! But from the top you can
view a magnificent span of jungle with the tops of other
ruins reaching above the jungle canopy.  Deep within the jungles of Mexico and
Guatemala and extending into the limestone shelf of the Yucatán
peninsula lie the fabled temples and palaces of the Maya. While
Europe still slumbered in the midst of the Dark Ages, these
innovative people had charted the heavens, evolved the only true
writing system native to the Americas and were masters of
mathematics and calendarics. Without advantage of metal tools or
even the wheel they were able to construct vast cities with an
astonishing degree of architectural perfection and variety.
Their legacy in stone, which has survived in a spectacular
fashion at places such as Kabah, Laba, Tulum, Chichén Itzá, Coba
and Uxmal, lives on as do the seven million descendants of the
classic Maya civilization. |
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Interesting "Chichen Itza" Fact: The
sum of all steps in the pyramid ads up to 365, the
number of days in a year. Inside the Chichen Pyramid
there is another one that was built previously and
used as a foundation. Offerings to Chaac, the crooked nosed rain god, whose face carved
in stone can be seen at the left and were particularly
significant in this lakeless, riverless region where
water was precious.
In the 80-foot well
that can be
seen to the left., Thompson
found the remains of human bones and 240 artifacts
of jade, copper and gold. The Carnegie Institute
continued to explore the area from 1923 to 1943.
The Castle at
Chichen work as a sun clock in the day of the equinox.
It displays a shadows and lights effect over its
surface that resembles a snake descending from
the top of the pyramid.
The
magician built the piramid at Uxmal in 3 days and 3 nigths ,
challenged the king to break hard seed into their
skulls but the magician was secretly covered his
skull, the king died and the winner becomed king of
Uxmal.
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