Tulum

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This article is about the pre-Columbian Maya site. For the modern-day township, see Tulum, Quintana Roo. For other uses, see Tulum (disambiguation).

Main temple at Tulum against the Caribbean Sea (photo July 2005)

Tulum ( (Tulu'um in Modern Maya) ; in Spanish orthography, Tulúm) is the site of a Pre-Columbian Maya walled city serving as a major port for Cobá.^[1]

1 Description
2 Tourism
3 See also
4 References
5 External links

The ruins are located on 39-ft (12-m) cliffs, along the east coast of the Yucatán Peninsula on the Caribbean Sea in the state of Quintana Roo, Mexico.^[1] One of the best-preserved coastal Maya sites, Tulum is today a popular site for tourists.^[1]

[edit] Description

The Maya site may have been formerly also known by the name Zama, meaning city of Dawn. Tulúm is also the Yucatec Mayan word for fence or wall^[1] (or trench), and the walls surrounding the site allowed the Tulum fort to serve as a defense against invasion. From the numerous depictions in murals and other works around the site, Tulum appears to have been an important site for the worship of the Diving or Descending God.^[1]

While an inscription dated A.D. 564 has been found at the site,^[1] most of the structures now visible were built in the Post-Classic Era, between about 1200 and 1450. The city remained occupied through the early years of the Spanish conquest of Yucatán, but was abandoned by the end of the 16th century. Local Maya continued to visit the temples, to burn incense and pray, until the late 20th century, when tourists visiting the site became too numerous for the local inhabitants.

A number of the buildings have fresco murals on the interior (small remaining traces of paint suggest that the exterior of some buildings may have been similarly decorated). The murals show Mixtec influence.

Main temple at Tulum, by Catherwood

The city was first mentioned by Juan Diez, part of Juan de Grijalva's expedition of 1518.^[1] The first detailed description of the ruins was published by John Lloyd Stephens and Frederick Catherwood in 1843 in the book Incidents of Travel in Yucatan. The site is of moderate size, with construction of modest-sized buildings.

[edit] Tourism

"Temple of the Frescos"

The archaeological site is relatively compact (compared with many other Maya sites in the vicinity), and is one of the best-preserved coastal Maya sites. Its proximity to the modern tourism developments along the Mexican Caribbean coastline (the so-called "Riviera Maya" surrounding Cancún) has made it a popular destination for tourists. Daily tour buses bring a constant stream of visitors to the site. The Tulum ruins are the third most-visited archaeological site in Mexico, after Teotihuacan and Chichen Itza. It is popular for the picturesque view of the Caribbean and a location just 128 km (80 miles) south of the popular beach resort of Cancún.

A large number of cenotes are located in the Tulum area such as Maya Blue, Naharon, Temple of Doom, Tortuga, Vacaha, Gand Cenote, Abejas, Nohoch Kiin and Carwash cenotes and cave systems. The amount and beauty of these underwater caves have developed this area for into a hot spot for cave divers who like to cave dive in these cristal clear caverns and caves.

The tourist destination is now divided into three main areas: the archaeological site, the pueblo (or town), and the zona hotelera (or hotel zone).