Mayan City of Tulum

City Gate

The sun rises form the East over the Caribbean Sea, casting its light upon the mighty walls of the stone city.  Men of the village arouse their children from their slumber to prepare for the day.  After finishing their bowl of saka, the men and boys gather their tool and head to the fields.  Painstakingly work the land to prepare it for the panting of their crops.  Maize, chills, tomatoes, avocados, and many more are on the menu.

Inside the walls the artisans gather their tools and make their way to their shops.  Once there they will work on their crafts.  Creating pottery, textiles, and jewelry.  For the lucky few, they would be able to prove their worth by creating wood and stone carvings for the King.

Down at the port comes a loud commotion as the dock workers prepare of the arrival of the new trading vessels.  Long hand carved canoes filled with goods, pass the fishermen casting their nets into the sea for the days catch.  What could they be bring in today?  Cotton, salt, precious stones like jade or obsidian?  Slaves from a recent conquering of a rival village?  No, nothing as sinister as that, but cocoa and exotic bird feathers.  The nobles will be happy.

El Castillo

As the sunset covers the Yucatan in darkness, the men wipe away the sweat and grime, of the day, away from the foreheads.  Happy with the days accomplishments they make their way back to their homes and families.  The family eats their supper and recount the days activities.  Telling heroic stores, of days gone by, as they tuck the children into their beds.  And await the sleep to befall them and drift into dreamland.

This could be a snapshot of a typical day in the Mayan City of Tulum.  The sound of Mayan life no longer echoes through the walls of the city.  But has been replace by the awes of thousands of tourists that pass through its gates yearly.

Tulum is a pre-Columbian Mayan port city.  It lies on Eastern coast of the Yucatan Peninsula looking over the Caribbean Sea.  It is located in the Mexican state of Quintana Roo.  About a two hour drive from Cancun.  It was one of the largest cities built by the Mayans.  It was a major trading hub in the region as it had access to both land and sea trade routes.

Temple of Frescoes

The Spanish named it Tulum after the Mayan word for wall.  Tulum was one of few Mayan city to be fortified.  It was naturally protect by a cliff on its eastern side and surrounded by a massive wall on the other sides.  When I says massive, I mean massive.  It measures about 10ft to about 16ft tall, about 16ft to around 26ft thick, and encompasses the whole city.  The wall has five gates within them.  They were not very large in size.  The one we passed through was large enough for maybe two people to walk side by side.  Easier to fend off invaders when you can control how many can make it through at a time.

Inside you are greeted by grand stone structures of the city.  The ruins are considered a open museum.  That means that you are unable to enter or climbing on them.  You can get pretty close to them though.  The three main structure are El Castillo, The Temple of Frescoes, and the Temple of the Descending God.

El Castillo was an imposing Mayan pyramid ascending up from the cliffs edge overlooking the sea below.  In its prime, it was decorated with painted stucco reliefs and columns.  Built over several phase to its height of spender.

Temple of the Wind

The Temple of Frescoes is one of Tulum’s smaller structures.  But don’t let that fool you of its importance.  Highly detailed reliefs decorate the exterior and awe inspiring paintings of their gods line the interior, which gives the temple its name.  Some say that it was also used as an observatory for the sun.

The Temple of the Descending God is a curious building.  It poorer construction has caused it of be off-kilter and give it a cartoonish look.  The temple receives it name from a

carving of a upside down winged figure above the entrance of temple.  It is debated among archeologist who this figure represents.  They do agree that it was an important figure to the people of Tulum.  For it shows up on several other structure throughout Tulum.

I have always been fascinated with ancient culture.  Most of my background has been in the studying of Greece and Rome.  So given the opportunity to see Tulum, I jumped on it.  The more I look into Meso-American culture the more intrigued I become with it.  To us they seam like a simple people, but their knowledge of math, science and astronomy were unmatched.  They accomplished great things with the basic of tools.

When given the chance to do things you enjoy, seize the day and run.

Thats all I have for you today.  Thanks for stopping by.  Until next time.

Josh