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Archaeological Sites
Tulum
“We were in the wildest scenery we had yet found in Yucatan; and, besides the deep and exciting interest of the ruins themselves, we had around us what we wanted al all the other places, the magnificence of nature.” John Lloyd Stephens
 Tulum
is Located along the Mayan Riviera, just a little over an hour south of Cancun
on highway 307. Tulum is the most visited ancient site in the entire Mayan world.
Every year more than two million people are drawn by its magnificent setting, perched high above the beautiful Caribbean blue sea.
Not a city at all, but a massive temple complex, Tulum appears to have been built to honor the great  Descending God and to serve as an instructional training center for the belief and worship of this God.
There is some evidence to suggest that the Descending God may be associated with, or be the God Itzamna, of whom the 17th Century historian, Lizana, wrote
“The King or false God Itzamna, was represented by the Indians in the form of a hand and they say that the sick and dead were brought to him and that the God cured them by touching them with his hand.”
It appears clear that whether or not the Descending God is the same God as Itzamna, the temple complex was used to instruct the Maya people that the Descending God was the God of all Gods and the supreme being of creation. This can be seen in the Temple of the Inscriptions.
Unfortunately no one is permitted inside the temple today. However,
the Carnegie Institute produced detailed drawings of the interior in 1923 which gives us a clearer understanding of the nature of what went on here.
The true origins, nature and antiquity of Tulum remain shrouded in mystery. The current structures appear to date to the post-classic era, 900-1500 AD. However, everything else would suggest that the Tulum is of a more ancient origin.
 The region around Tulum was first settled around 300 BC. A stela taken from the temple of the initial series, and now sitting in the British Museum, in London, has the date of 564 AD engraved on it.
Artifacts dating to the first century AD have been found in its tombs and in the 8th century Tulum was referred to, along with Tankah, as a major trading port serviced by giant canoes which plied the important trade route between Honduras and the Yucatan. There also
appears to be a Toltec influence to Tulum's architecture and many of the buildings show an Itza influence as well.
 Additionally, since Tulum is the only Mayan city with a beach and natural port, and Tulum sits on the most important trade route in Mesoamerica, it is difficult to imagine that it was not of critical importance since pre-classic times, 600BC -300AD.
Tulum is Yucatec for wall, but the original name appears to have been Zama or the dawn. The more modern name, Tulum, comes from the 3600 foot long wall that surrounds the site.
 Although Tulum was a thriving community and the only inhabited ancient Mayan city when the Spaniards arrived, and was never conquered, it soon after was abandoned and lost to the jungle.
Originally the temples were painted with bright blue, red, yellow and white paint.
When John Lloyd Stephens cut away the jungle in 1842 to reveal the city which had been deserted for several hundred years, he found that the inside and outside of the temples were covered with beautiful murals. Today, although many of the murals have been recorded from earlier times, few remain visible.
 Often referred to by the Mayas as the heart of the Mayan world, Tulum fell under the control of the cult of the
"talking cross" by the end of the 19th century and became the last outpost of the Maya who reluctantly ceded it to the Mexican government in 1935.
The first permanent excavations of Tulum were conducted in 1916, with the Carnegie
Institute doing a series of studies over 40 years, beginning in 1924.
Present day Mayans say that in ancient times, Tulum was connected to Coba, Uxmal and Chichen-Itza by means of a sky road called a cuxan san or living rope.
 Today,
because of the sacred nature of the site to the Mayans, there are no new excavations. However, a major project was initiated in 2005 to beautify the entire site. The picture to the left is pre beautification and the picture below shows the
post beautification.
If there is one site in the Yucatan you do not want to miss, Tulum is it!!
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