Perhaps the most accessible and easily most visited of all pre-Columbian cities lies right smack-bang in the middle of Mexico City. Tulum is unique as being one of the very few remaining cities to be located on the coastline, and the temples overlooking the beaches and ocean make a spectacular photo op. The city essentially served as a port and when the Spanish conquered the peninsula, they kept on using as such. Another Mayan site, Tulum is one of the youngest pre- Columbian cities built somewhere between the 13th and 15th centuries.
#ANCIENT CITIES FULL#
In the surrounding jungle is a large cenote (flooded sinkhole) full of jewellery, pottery and human bones thought to have been thrown in as sacrifices in times of need.Īlso located on the Yucatan Peninsula near Chichen Itza is Tulum. There’s many other impressive structures at the complex including a ball court, observatory and the Temple of the Warriors. The pyramid is so perfectly built that just twice a year, on the spring and autumn equinoxes, a shadow is cast down the 365 step staircase which lines up perfectly with a serpents head statue at the base, giving the illusion of a giant serpent slithering down the pyramid. Its dominating feature is the huge 30 metre step pyramid El Castillo, also known as the Temple of Kukulcan. Located midway between Cancun and Merida in Mexico, Chichen Itza was built by the Mayans somewhere between 750-900AD. One of the most famous of all the Central American sites is Chichen Itza. What they found is now attracting millions from around the world. A real life game of treasure hunt was started as expedition after expedition disappeared into the jungle in search of these fabled cities.
Eventually though, researchers and explorers began to hear stories of these ancient cities of stone and gold. However as Europeans arrived bringing war and disease with them, many of the cities became abandoned, retaken by the jungle, and lost to legend. Long before Christopher Columbus and the rest of Europe established, colonies, towns and trading posts in the America’s, the continent was already home to some of the greatest cities ever known.
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