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COBÁ,
WHERE ALL ROADS LEAD |
Facilities: Restrooms, parking lot, handcrafts,
open from 8:00 to 17:00 hours.
Description:
It is located 43 Km. from Tulum or 57 Km. from
Valladolid. According to Antonio
Benavides, (Mexican archaeologist), Cobá stands
for abundance of water or cloudy water. According
to Mr.Thompson (American archaeologist),
Cobá during ancient times was known
as Kinchil Cobá or Kinchil Cobá Petén.
Mexican archaeologist Mr. Ignacio Marquina
claims Cobá means choppy water and
Kinchil means Sun God City.
It has an area of 70 square kilometers; according
to scholars, Cobá was the largest
Mayan city with 32 monuments (steles). It
is known for its vast network of roads having
a total of 46.
There are five lakes, which were important
for the development of this city. The peak
of progress was between 300 and 1000 A.D.
Even in its decadence Cobá was populated
until 1450 A.D.
Due to the vast network of roads and the
high quantity of structures found, one can
easily guess the activity this city had.
Cobá was not a ceremonial center surrounded
by scattered and scarce population, but something
much bigger and complex.
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CH
ICHÉN ITZÁ, THE MAYAN MONUMENTALITY |
Facilities: Parking lot, restrooms, restaurant,
museum, handcrafts, sound and light show and telephone.
Opens everyday from 8:00 to 17:00 hours.
Description:
It is located 120 Km. from Mérida
or 220 Km. from Cancun.
Visiting the mouth of the well of the wise warriors
(according to Ph.D. Ramón Arzápalo)
or the wizards of the water (according to the
old and popular version) is a magic experience.
The spring and fall equinoxes, is a magical time
to visit this site. During this event more than
40,000 people gather to watch the arrival of
Kukulkán (K´uk´ulkan in Mayan
modern writing), an ancient cultural hero that
descends from the top to bottom of the pyramid
in the form of a snake of light. Other documented
astronomical phenomena can be seen at the Temple
of Jaguars, located at the Ball Court and the
front window of the Astronomical Observatory.
These buildings are positioned to the sunset.
The 29th of April is the first day when a beam
of sunlight enters into the chamber. This phenomenon
ends August the 13th . The buildings at Chichén
Itzá were used for administrative, religious,
ritual and probably military purposes. Chichén
Itzá´s territory covers at least
15 square kilometers.
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TULUM, THE WALLED PORT, A WONDER WORLD |
Facilities: Restrooms, parking lot, handcrafts,
telephone, Los voladores de Papantla fertility
ritual, restaurant, open from 8:00 to 17:00 hours.
Great beach!!
Description:
Tulum is located 123 Km. from Cancún. It means fence or wall, but
its ancient name was Zamá (or Tzamá)
meaning Sunrise. The wall is 385 m long and
165 m. wide. Stele number 1 has the date
9.6.10.0.0 engraved, that is 564 A.D. but
this stele is
originally from another location. The archaeological
site has an area of 644 hectares. The Italian
filmmaker Federico Felini chose this location
to film here, but died before having his
dream come true.
After the commercial center there is an open
area where you can see a fertility ritual performed
by the Totonacs (see Totonac culture for explanations).
This city belongs to the Late Post Classic
Period.
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UXMAL, THE ELEGANT PUUC CITY |
Facilities: Museum, restrooms, handcrafts, restaurant,
telephone, parking lot, sound and light show.
Description: It is located 78 Km. from Mérida.
It means three times built or occupied or abundant
harvest. It has an area of 12 square Km. Its
first inhabitants arrived by 800 B.C. and agriculture
was their main activity, thanks to many small
valleys with lots of humus (fertile soil). In
the valleys, farmers had two harvests of corn
per year. Uxmal is located on hills (the area
has 7500 Km2 with a maximum height of 100 m)
that are named Puuc, so water is difficult to
obtain through cenotes. As a consequence, Mayans
developed a technique to get the rainwater using
big cisterns with chalk (in order to make it
drinkable) and these cisterns were built taking
advantage of the land. Actually we can see the
cisterns or Chultunes are still in use. From
600 to 1000 A. D., Uxmal had a very important
role in the peninsula. Some experts think that
Uxmal had 20,000 people during its peak.
Decorations with intertwined snakes and double-head
lines on the walls are part of a style named
Late Puuc brought by the Xiu tribe. The real
Puuc style shows decorations on the upper portion
of the facades. They infrequently used statues
or stucco carvings as a decoration in this style.
Around 1200 A. D. there was a big collapse of
this city. There is a road (sacbé) towards
Kabah, which is located 18 Km. away.
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We have daily
tours to the Mayan World Cities, for more information
about this Archaeological Private tours and visits
send your e-mail to info@cancunvip.com |
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