Over a hundred and fifty archaeological sites have been explored and
made accessible to the public. In addition to that 29.000 sites have
been registered all over Mexico located mainly in five regions.
Archaeology
The
Central Valleys: encompassing the states of Mexico, Hidalgo,
Tlaxcala, Puebla, Morelos and Mexico City. Amongst the most famous sites
are Tenochtitlan, Tula, Cuicuilco, Teotihuacan, Cholula, Cantona,
Xochitecatl y Cacaxtla.
Tenochtitlan, at one time
capital of the Aztec Empire, nowadays Mexico City. It was built on the
lake that used to flood the Central Valley of Mexico.
The small
island, enlarged via a system of land refill and reclamation through
small, floating, plots of land known as
chinampas, gave rise to
numerous small canals which connected a great number of houses, palaces,
temples, a fully stocked zoo, plazas, markets and aqueducts. All these
infrastructure supported a social and political organization cantered
around the Calpulli (productive communities) located at the main
cardinal points: Azacoalco (northeast), Zoquiapan (southeast), Moyotla
(southwest) and Cuepopan (northwest).
Tula’s archaeological site
lies 80 kilometres north of Mexico City and used to be the capital city
of the Toltecs. One of their main contributions was the development of
the “interior space” concept, inherited to other cultures. The Toltecs
achieved the building of magnificent rooms, which roofs were sustained
by columns, an element unknown in Mesoamerica at the time.
Cuicuilco
is located in Mexico City’s southeast. Its main distinctive element is
its circular pyramid, which has a diameter of nearly 150 meters.
Teotihuacan,
the city of the Gods is located 50-km northeast of Mexico City in a
region known as the Central Highlands. It has been considered to be one
of the most important sites in Mesoamerica during the Classic period and
set guidelines for future cultures that inhabited the region.
ChiapasState Chiapas, a state in the southeast
of Mexico, is full of contrasts. Its geographical and cultural
diversity, complex history, natural richness and variety of ethnic
groups make it one of the country’s most attractive tourist destinations.
Chiapas
is virtually synonymous with nature. This green strip of Mexico contains
one of the most complex biotic diversities in the country. It has
mountain ranges, rivers, volcanoes, plains, canyons, waterfalls, lakes,
cloud forests, coast and savannah. Much of its territory is considered a
nature reserve, and supports an astonishing range of flora and fauna.
Its attractions include archaeological sites, colonial cities, nature
reserves, Indian communities, beaches and places for engaging in
open-air sports and ecotourism.
It has two of the largest, most
spectacular rivers in the country, the Grijalva and the Usumacinta.
Amongst the most popular archaeological sites are Palenque, Tonina and
Yaxchilan.
In
the midst of an extraordinary setting of exuberant, endlessly green
tropical jungle stands one of the most important and spectacular Mayan
cities of ancient Mexico: Palenque.
Palenque is one of the most
frequently visited archaeological zones in the country. Apart from
exploring its buildings, visitors can also take photographs, carry out
research or purchase local handicrafts.
For many years,
Palenque was covered by dense jungle, until the 19th century when it was
discovered by adventurers and artists, such as Guillermo Dupaix, Count
Waldeck, John L. Stephens, Frederick Catherwood, Désiré Charnay and
Alfred P. Maudslay, whose reports made the world aware of the greatness
of this city.
This imposing ceremonial center reached its peak
during the Classic period (600-700 AD), when its major buildings were
constructed. During this time, it was the capital of a province that
comprised the lowlands bordering on the Usumacinta and Grijalva rivers.
The set of buildings that can be seen today are only a fraction of what
the city once was. Palenque’s collapse is still a mystery. It is thought
to have been due to the rebellion of an oppressed people, since there
are signs that it was intentionally destroyed.
The
archaeological zone lies within Palenque National Park. Its climate is
warm and humid, with altitudes of less than 350 m. The vegetation is
mainly tropical forest which supports a wide range of fauna; camping
facilities are also available. The site can be reached via the
Villahermosa-Chetumal highway, taking the turn-off in Catazajá to
Palenque.
Eight kilometers outside the archaeological zone
stands the city of Santo Domingo de Palenque, which provides access to
the site. Hotels, restaurants and other tourist services are available.
This city is within easy reach of places of great natural beauty, as
well as other archaeological sites.
Palenque is located 299 km
outside Tuxtla Gutiérrez, the state capital, and 220 km outside San
Cristobal de las Casas.
Tonina is an archaeological
site on an artificial mountain that was built on top of a small clay
mountain range. Is located north of the Ocosingo Valley close to
Palenque and San Cristobal de las Casas. The site was built using
monumental stone platforms, which formed the base for temples and
palaces. Its shape resembles that of a maze of over 70m height. Tonina’s
main attractions are its sculptures on stone and estuco.
Yaxchilan
is prototype of a city lost in the jungle. It is located on the
shoreline of the Usumacinta river, it raises 10m above ground in the
Lacandon jungle. It origins date back to ten thousand years as the first
settlers arrived to the region and it reached its climax during the
550-900 years AD.
Yucatan Peninsula Encompassing
the Sates of Campeche, Yucatán and Quintana Roo. Amongst the most
popular archaeological sites of the region are Calakmul, Chichén Itza,
Uxmal, Sayil, Kabah, Labna, Edzná, Tulúm, Xel-Ha and Cobá.
Mérida,
the "White City" invites you to explore it. Today, Merida is a mestizo
city that sings outdoors in the evenings, provides hailstorms at midday
and offers a horse-drawn carriage tour of its Paseo Montejo in the
afternoons. Its colonial and Frenchified architecture, Mayan language,
Caribbean atmosphere and original cuisine make this a unique destination.
Mérida
is the gateway to Uxmal and the Puuc Zone that still bears traces of its
pre-Hispanic history and the extravagance of the henequen haciendas. It
offers sports in the open sea in Yucalpetén, as well as a magnificent
example of environmental conservation in Celestún, with its large
flamingo population.
The
majority of the region’s people descended from the Mayans, the builders
of Uxmal and Chichén Itzá. Although these cities had already been
abandoned by the time the Spaniards arrived, the Conquest was delayed
until 1542 here, when Governor Francisco Montejo founded Mérida, nearly
twenty years after the fall of Teotihuacan. The revolts that followed
were compounded by pirate raids and in 1847, the Indians launched a "War
of the Castes" against the whites amd lasted until 1912. During the last
third of the 19th century, the henequen industry dominated the economy,
creating immense fortunes and fostering backwardness, as a result of
which the Revolution soon acquired a powerful social component in
Yucatán. Following the henequen crisis, the state was diversified and
nowadays tourism is one of its main activities.
The capital of
Yucatán, the state that once occupied the entire peninsula separating
the Caribbean from the Gulf of Mexico, lies 36 km south of Puerto
Progreso and is an hour and a half from Mexico by plane and an hour’s
flight from Miami. It has a hot, humid climate, with a maximum of 35ºC
in May and a season of short, sharp rains between June and September.
The city was built on a large plain that vanishes into the horizon,
without ever rising above 10 m above sea level, which enabled it to grow
into an almost perfect square that is currently inhabited by half a
million people.
Chichén Itza is perhaps the most well preseved
archaeological site in Mexico and also one of the most visited. It is
made of two cities, one ruled by the Maya from the VI to the X Century
and the other city ruled by a mix of Maya-Tolteca influences around the
year 1,000 AD.
The archaeological zone is divided into three
sections; the North Group, with its most famous landmark El Castillo
(the castle) pyramid and the Sacred Cenote or natural well; the Central
Group, whose most famous structure is El Caracol, so-called because it
resembles a giant conch shell; and the South Group containing the Temple
of the Three Lintels.
The Castle or El Castillo has Maya and
Toltec influences and has a prominent and symbolic role. It is located
on the Great Square and stands out from the other buildings due to its
perfect dimensions and its heigh of more than 30 meters. The pyramid
itself was built around 650 and 800 AD. Its four stairs are made of 91
steps and when multiplying the stairs by the steps plus the upper level
of the pyramid it adds to 365, the days of a year. Due to its dimensions
and its relationship with the sun calendar, it is believed that the
pyramid worships the Sun. During the equinoxes, the shadow reflected on
one of its sides creates the illusion of a serpent gliding down the
pyramid. The spectacular Jaguar Chamber is inside the structure, only
accessible through a small passage at the bottom of the pyramid.
Chichen
Itza has the largest ball game in Mesoamerica whose walls were decorated
with scence of this game-like ceremony.
Uxmal this
archeological site used to be a Mayan ceremonial center, and is located
only 70 km from Merida. What makes this site notable is the
parallelpiped shape of the buildings, of which the most outstanding are
the Pirámide del Adivino (The Soothsayer’s Pyramid), "El Cuadrángulo de
las Monjas (The Nun’s Quadrangle) and the Palacio del Gobernador
(Government Palace). About 80 km south of the city, along Highway 261
lies a group of archaeological sites known as the Puuc zone, the most
important of which is Uxmal. Before you rush off, however, we suggest
you visit the Museum of Anthropology, set in a mansion on Paseo Montejo,
where you will find interesting information that will make your trip
more rewarding.
Campeche is part of the enormous plain
comprising the Yucatán peninsula, which it shares with Yucatán and
Quintana Roo. It was inhabited by groups from the ancient Mayan culture,
traces of which can still be seen in places like Edzná and Calakmul. On
the shores of the Gulf of Mexico, in what was once the Mayan city of Ah
Kin Pech ("place of the sun"), Francisco de Montejo el Mozo ordered the
construction of Villa de San Francisco de Campeche.
Due to its
strategic location, it suffered numerous pirate attacks, as a result of
which a defense system of walls and forts was built, traces of which
still remain, giving it its distinctive appearance. The state’s
surroundings are tropical, and unlike its neighbors on the peninsula, it
has several rivers, in addition to beaches, archaeological sites,
colonial buildings, nineteenth-century haciendas and nature reserves
with an astonishing variety of flora and fauna.
60km southeast
of Campeche is Edzna archaeological site, one of the major sites in this
State. The site expands for over two square kilometres and its made of a
main square, stone temples, clay masks, ball game, an anphitheatre and a
complex network of channels.
Another major archaeological site
in Campeche is Calakmul, with a World Heritage Site status by UNESCO
since 2002. Calakmul is also a Biosphere Reserve and so far it is the
largest Mayan city explored. It was continuously inhabited for over
three thousand years. It is the site with the most important
archaeological findings of recent years, and comprises buildings, walls,
cement-lined brick cisterns, watering places and tombs.
Tulúm
is one of the oldest sites in the Yacatan Peninsula and probably one of
the most kown in the west. Archaeologist believe that the edifications
in Tulúm where built during the late postclassic period (AD 1200 – 1550)
and it was an important port during its most important phase.
Tulúm
used to be a walled city due to its political and ceremonial status in
the region. Its location on the edge of a cliff overlooking the
Caribbean Sea makes it one of the most spectacular in the Mayan World.
Tulúm’s
main buildings are located in the centre of the site and used to be
surounded by a second wall, which remnants can still be seen. Amongst
the main buildings the Castle stands out due to its size, location and
beautiful façade. Finally, Tulum’s beach was probably used by traders of
the region and currently makes a perfect setting for relaxing and
enjoying the views.
Coba is located 47km southwest from Tulum.
This Mayan city was built in the fauna-rich jungle next to freshwater
lakes about 2,200 years ago. Today, four sections of this complex: Coba,
Chumuc Mul, Macanxoc and Nohoch mul- that contain buildings, sacbés or
roads (built with white stone), platforms, foundations, pyramids and
patios have been partially preserved.
