Uxmal

Uxmal is a large Pre-Columbian ruined city of the Maya civilization in the state of Yucatan, Mexico. It is 78 km south of Merida (110 km from Merida on Highway 261 to Campeche).

While much work has been done at the popular tourist destination of Uxmal to consolodate and restore buildings, little in the way of serious archeological excavation and research has been done here, therefore the city's dates of occupation are unknown and the estimated population (about 25,000 people) is at present only a very rough guess subject to change upon better data. Most of the architecture visible today was built between about [[700] and 1100. Maya chronicles say it was ruled over by the Xiu family, was the most powerful site in western Yucatan, and for a while in alliance with Chichen Itza dominated all of the northern Maya area.

Even before the restoration work Uxmal was in better condition than many other Maya sites thanks to being unusually well built. Much was built with well cut stones not relying on plaster to hold the building together. The Maya architecture here is considered matched only by that of Palenque in elegance and beauty. The Puuc style of Maya architecture predominates. Thanks to its good state of preservation, it is one of the few Maya cities where the casual visitor can get a good idea of how the entire ceremonial center looked in ancient times.

Some of the more noteworthy buildings include:

• The Governor's Palace, a long low building atop a huge platform, with the longest fascades in Pre-Columbian Mesoamerica.
• The Adivino or "Pyramid of the Magician", a fine pyramid temple unusual in several ways. The layers of the step pyramid are oval, rather than the usal rectangular or square shape. It was a common practice in Mesoamerica to build new temple pyramids atop older ones, but here a newer pyramid was built centered slightly to the east of the older pyramid, so that on the west side the temple atop the old pyramid is preserved, with the newer temple above it.
• The Nunnery Quadrangle (a nickname given to it by the Spanish; it was a government palace) is the finest of Uxmal's several fine quadrangles of long buildings with elaborately carved fascades on both the inside and outside faces
• A large Ballcourt for playing the Mesoamerican Ballgame

The site, located not far from Merida beside the road to Campeche, has attracted many visitors since the time of Mexico's independence. The first detailed account of the ruins was published by Jean Frederic Waldeck in 1838. Carlotta of Mexico visited Uxmal in the 1860s; in preparation for her visit local authorities had some statues and architectural elements depicting phallic themes removed from the ancient fascades. Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom visited in 1976 for the inaguration of the site's sound & light show; when the presentation reached the point where the sound system played the Maya prayer to Chac a sudden torrential downpour fell upon the gathered dignitaries, despite the fact that it was the middle of the dry season.

External Links

• Uxmal on mayaruins.com with map and photos
• Uxmal Ruins good photographs