Tulum

A walled Maya port city perched on cliffs above the turquoise Caribbean Sea.

A wall about three to five metres high and eight metres thick protected the city on the land side, with five narrow gateways. Tulum was one of the last cities built and lived in by the Maya. It is one of the best-preserved coastal Maya sites and one of Mexico's most visited ruins.

A walled port

Tulum was a port for the inland city of Coba and could trade both by land and by sea, especially in obsidian, a sharp volcanic glass. The wall ran about 400 metres along the sea side and about 170 metres across the ends. Two small watch towers stood at the corners. Canoes came home from fishing and trading to a small sandy cove, and a small cenote near the north wall gave fresh water.

Castle and temples

The main pyramid, El Castillo, is about 7.5 metres tall. It may have worked as a beacon to guide canoes safely through a gap in the reef.

The Temple of the Frescoes was likely used for watching the sun, and a stucco 'diving god' above the door gives it its name. Maya pictures of this diving or descending god appear in many places in the city.

Rediscovered ruins

Juan Díaz, a member of Juan de Grijalva's 1518 expedition, was among the first Europeans to see Tulum. Maya people kept living there for around 70 years after the Spanish arrived in Mexico, but the city was abandoned by the end of the 16th century. In 1843 the travellers John Lloyd Stephens and Frederick Catherwood published the first detailed description of the ruins, and Catherwood's drawings showed the Castillo to the world.

On the globe

The model shows the walled city beside the sea. Look for El Castillo on the cliff edge.