The legendary land of the Maya is located in the north of the peninsula after which it is named and which it shares with Campeche and Quintana Roo; it is washed by the Gulf of Mexico in the north. Yucatán forms part of the Mayan world, vestiges of which can be found throughout its territory, particularly in Chichén Itzá and along the Puuc Route. As in most of Mexico, the Yucatán has two principal seasons: wet and dry. Rainy season extends from May through October, with high humidity and heat. Dry season brings cool breezes.
Yucatán offers the adventurous visitor a wealth in Mayan archaeological ruins, stunning colonial architecture, important caves and grottoes and ecological preserves and sanctuaries such as Río Lagartos and Celestún.
One of Mexico's major archaeological sites and perhaps the best known, Chichén Itzá is an extensive site featuring the El Castilo Pyramid, balls courts, a variety of Mayan temples and the sacred cenote, a deep, natural well and place of offering surrounded by massed vines and vegetation. In El Castillo, at the spring and fall equinoxes, the postioning of lights and shadows coming through a series of small triangles projects a writhing serpent onto the walls of the pyramid. Chichén Itzá is located on Highway 180 between Merida (118 km. away) and Cancún (168 km. away). Buses run from both cities, as well as from Valladolid, to the small town of Piste, 2 1/2 km. from the site. The site is open to the public from 8 a.m. till 5 p.m. daily. Already a major settlement by the time of the arrival of the Spanish Conquistadores, Mérida, so named in 1542 by the Spanish after taking it over more than a decade of resistance by the indigenous population, became the main Colonial commercial center of the peninsula. Some of it's architectural attractions include the Municipal and Government palaces and the Cathedral (completed in 1598), the Anthropological Museum, located on Paseo Montejo, and the Regional Crafts Museum, on Calle 59. |
