Area R: Quintana Roo - North

Tulum is one of the most famous tourist locations of Mexico and this is undoubtedly due to its stunning position on the beautiful Carribean coast; its pictures adorn most travel brochures of the area. The ruins themselves are modest but form the largest of such sites on this coast and are worth visiting for the Castillo and the Temple of the Descending God.

The ruins stand close to the town of Tulum, a stop-over point for most bus journeys across this region. One may wish to stay at one of several beach-dwellings just along from the archaeological site.

History

Culture: East Coast Maya

Tulum is one of the few examples of a pre-Hispanic city that continued to be occupied some time after the Conquest. It was also one of the very last to flourish and we see here an inferior style of construction that characterises other late cities on this coast.

Its roots as a trading port go back into the Early Classic, but stone construction seems to have started near the beginning of the seventh century AD. It remained in the shadow of neighbouring power centres until the Late Post-Classic, when we see a spurt in monumental construction and consequently, we can assume, a rise in regional autonomy. The cultural influences were many, ranging from Itzá to central Mexican styles. A surrounding protective wall was constructed around the ceremonial heart of the city. The reason behind the rather poorly constructed buildings is unclear but in some of the temples, it created a somewhat lop-sided appearance.

The final abandonment of Tulum has been put down to decimation by European diseases, but this only occured well into the sixteenth century.

For more about other East Coast Mayan Cities, see Cultural History.

Tour. (Scroll down to follow complete tour, or click on feature below and use your BACK key to return to map)

To enter the ceremonial centre of Tulum, we pass through a corridor in the surrounding wall that encompasses the city on three sides - the fourth side bordered by the sea. 

    Entrance

All of the main constructions are to be found inside this wall, although originally the settlement continued for several miles down the coast.

Tulum: Panorama

The first significant structure before us is the Temple of the Frescoes. This is a two-storey building -  the lower part a shrine with a columned entrance, and above, a temple with roof and doorway. There are remnants of red and blue murals on the exterior walls and also carved reliefs including the famous Descending or Diving God, that is commonly repeated here.

Temple of the Frescoes   

Just behind this, to the left, is the House of the Columns, a mostly ruined construction.

Picking our way through other minor platforms, we will come to the small Inner Plaza, before which stands the most imposing building here, the Castillo (castle). This consists of a long platform with a stepped entrance, topped by a square temple and also small towers at the ends. The temple, currently unclimbabale, possesses broken Descending God motifs. The Castillo obviously once formed the ritual heart of Tulum.

    Castillo

On the north side of the Inner Plaza, we find another one-roomed temple on top of an unevenly built stepped platform. This owns a much better preserved diving god carving and is correspondingly called the Temple of the Descending God.

Temple of the Descending God   

Walking northwest from the Inner Plaza, we come to a long building on the outside of the main ceremonial cluster. This is called the Palace and consists of flat platform with rooms, walls and an entrance colonade.

    Palace

The final significant feature of interest stands on a small prominotory over-looking the crystal Carribean waters. This is known as the Temple of the Wind. It is  another one-room temple resting upon a circular platform (this design signifies the wind in most pre-Hispanic cultures).

Temple of the Wind God