Canyon del Sumidero
| Canyon del Sumidero | ||
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 The Cañón del Sumidero from above |
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| location | Chiapas (Mexico) | |
| Waters | Río Grijalva | |
| Geographical location | 16 ° 51 ′ 0 ″ N , 93 ° 8 ′ 0 ″ W | |
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The Cañón del Sumidero ( Spanish sumidero "Gully", "drainage ditch") is a deep canyon with up to 1000 m high rock walls in the Mexican state of Chiapas 15 km north to 15 km east of the capital Tuxtla Gutiérrez , from the Río Grijalva first in a northerly and then in a westerly direction. Its formation began 35 million years ago - roughly at the same time as the Grand Canyon in Arizona (USA).
Equipped with about 30 rapids and five waterfalls Sumidero Canyon and the surrounding area provide the more than 20,000 ha large Cañon del Sumidero National Park is in which even crocodiles and river turtles live, sometimes sun themselves on rocks or sandbanks. There are several caves in the rocks on either side of the gorge. Tourist explorations (mostly boat tours) are offered by several agencies in Tuxtla Gutiérrez.
The Chicoasén Dam, completed in 1981, at the northern end of the gorge, created one of the largest reservoirs in Mexico, whose 261 m high dam is also one of the 15 highest in the world .
During the conquest of the highlands by the Spaniards, hundreds of women and children from the Maya tribe of the Chiapa rushed into the Cañón del Sumidero, thus avoiding enslavement. The Chiapa tribe subsequently became extinct.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ John Fisher, Sylvia Meyer: Mexico. Travel Handbuch, Stefan Loose Verlag, Berlin, 2002 ISBN 3-922025-92-7 p. 627
literature
- John Fisher, Sylvia Meyer: Mexico, Travel Handbuch, Stefan Loose Verlag, Berlin, January 2002 ISBN 3-922025-92-7