Centro Cultural de Santo Domingo
We were not quite tired of old pottery after the Precolumbian Art Museum, so we made our way over to the Centro Cultural de Santo Domingo (aka, the Regional Museum of Oaxaca), located in the 16th century Dominican Monastery that once dominated the northern part of the city. The museum featured oodles of carvings and pottery from the major civilizations that had inhabited Oaxaca at some time, focusing on the Zapotecs and the Mixtecs (Don't worry Philippe, the Mixtecs are kind of like the Aztecs).
Hierve el Agua
After exploring the ruins of Mitla, we had a good lunch of fish at a local comedor (to get a great meal, always look for a relatively skinny lady doing the cooking), and then shared a pickup with a couple of Mexican tourists to go take a dip in the pool at the mountain town of Hierve el Agua.
The Ruins of Mitla
Just southeast of Oaxaca lies a modern Zapotec town of Mitla. Mitla is interesting (to us at least) because it has been inhabited without interruption since at 100 CE and probably longer. During its early years, Mitla was a dependency of the Zapotec powerhouse at Monte Alban, and appears to have served a mostly ceremonial function within this society. When Monte Alban ceased to function in around the 7th century, Mitla expanded greatly, taking control of the long valley in which it sits.
El Arbol de Tule : the world’s stoutest tree
We took a break from the old piles of stone to take a look at an old tree: El Arbol de Tule. This tree is the world's largest by a certain definition of large: it has the stoutest trunk in the world (all other superlatives, such as tallest, heaviest or greatest volume belong to California redwoods). The trunk is quite impressive indeed: at 14 meters across, it kind of blows your mind. Oh, and the tree is somewhere between 1,500 and 2,000 years old. It has direct offspring growing in the immediate vicinity that are themselves over a millennium in age.
The Ruins of Yagul
Just a short ride outside of Oaxaca by public bus, the ruins of the Zapotec city of Yagul sit atop a small volcanic plateau about a mile north of the road in one of the prettiest desert locations imaginable. Yagul was a small city state occupied from around 500 BCE until the Spanish arrived in 1521, at which time it was inhabited by around 5,000 people. It reached its apex in the Postclassic period after Monte Alban had declined, and most of the visible remains date from this time.
Oaxaca’s Precolumbian Art Museum
While in Oaxaca, we realized that though we had seen “quite a few” Pre-Hispanic sites in the last few weeks, we had been missing out on sculpture, pottery, tools, incense burners, and the various artifacts that were taken away from the sites by archeologists or looters and ended up in museums. So we made our way to the Rufino Tamayo Museum, and feasted our eyes on a truly amazing collection of Pre-Hispanic art from all over Mexico. The variety of styles you come across is really impressive, and some objects are just absolutely awesome...
The ruins of Monte Alban
From its dramatic mountaintop location overlooking Oaxaca, Monte Alban is by itself enough reason for some people to come to Mexico. It was both the cradle of the Zapotec civilization and its apogee. When Venla's father traveled through Mexico some 40 years ago, he traveled all the way from Mexico city to Oaxaca (at a time when such a trip was not exactly easy) for these ruins. While they are more accessible today than they were then, Monte Alban remains a beautiful and interesting place in a beautiful location.
Welcome to Oaxaca
After running from one Mayan milestone to the next for so many weeks, and after spending a fairly uncomfortable night on a bus, we decided to put our feet up in Oaxaca for a few days. “We'll hang out there for a week”, we thought, “it'll give us time to read, buy postcards, rest,... we'll just go see the ruins of Monte Alban and maybe a museum or two”... Then we opened our faithful Lonely Planet to the section on Oaxaca and around, and we knew we were doomed...
OLMECS! Visit to La Venta
After completing our Mayan Marathon, we decided to go back to the roots, and take a look at the Olmec site of La Venta, in the State of Tabasco. My generation, at least in the French-speaking world, probably remembers the Olmecs as one of the great civilizations encountered in the Mysterious Cities of Gold... their gigantic carved heads, with spooky eyes and strange helmets, were something we did not want to miss !
The end of the Maya Marathon
Well, this is it. We have finished the Maya Marathon. It was not easy, but we went to 26.2 Mayan archeological sites in four countries, which were:
Ruins of Labna (Puuc Route)
The last stop on our tour through the Puuc region was a compact but rich site called Labna. Labna was, like most of the other cities in the region, at its peak around 850 CE, and its architecture reflects the Puuc style perfectly.
Xlapac Ruins (Puuc Route)
Xlapac was a very small site on the Puuc route. It is mostly interesting for one small building that is still standing, a palace. This structure is a fine example of the Puuc style, but it features a very nice and original Cha'ac mask in the center of the facade.
Ruins of Sayil (Puuc region)
The next stop on the Puuc route was the smallish site of Sayil. While I say smallish, there is some evidence that Sayil was probably the biggest population center in the Puuc region, but it was just a flash in the pan with a total lifespan of just 150 years from its settlement in 800 CE and abandonment around 950. As such, its architecture never achieved the monumental proportions of other sites. It does, however, offer some interesting tidbits.
The ruins of Kabah and the Puuc route [pictures fixed]
I mentioned yesterday in my post that Uxmal belonged to an architectural style known as Puuc. Puuc is, in fact, the name of the only chain of hills on the otherwise flat Yucatan and home to a large concentration of Maya cities that share the same features, hence the name of the style. We mentioned most of the elements of Puuc yesterday in our discussion of Uxmal, so we won't go into it in much detail today except to mention that today's site, Kabah, is the second best example of Puuc after Uxmal, and a very interesting site at that.
The Very Awesome Uxmal Ruins
After spending a day relaxing in Merida, we headed on to see the ruins of Uxmal. As I write these lines about a week after the fact and having completed our Maya Marathon, I must conclude that Uxmal was the best Mayan site that we visited on this trip (although Venla is still holding out for Copan Ruinas). Its high state of preservation, outstanding artwork and tranquil environment all worked together to make this site one that will stand out in our memories for years to come.
Merida
After spending so much time in small towns whose economy was based on separating tourists (us) from their (our) money, we were craving some city life, and Merida, capital of the State of Yucatan, seemed to be our best best in the neighborhood. Nobody can accuse Merida of not being touristy, but at least it is sufficiently big for the gringos not to outnumber the natives. Here, at least, the fat, white tourists in shorts keep their shirts on, and get lost in the crowds.
It’s a Chicken! (or, Chichen Itza)
After Coba, we made our way to the town of Piste, just outside of the famous Chichen Itza ruins. We were a bit down on archeological sites in the Yucatan after the tourist circuses that were Tulum and Coba. Chichen Itza, which is probably the most famous of such places (it was voted to that silly New Seven Wonders list), appeared to be simply the climax of these disappointing Mexican destinations. I was ready to run through Chichen Itza and move on an hour later. However, the site is, in fact, outstanding and among the best that we have been to.
Ruins of Coba
We left out of Tulum after a couple of days, determined to continue our Maya Marathon west across the Yucatan. We stopped shortly at the site of Coba on our way to Chichen Itza, which was a surprisingly interesting afternoon. Coba was, in its time, a rather important city, having achieved a population of some 50,000 and dominating the eastern Yucatan by around 600 CE. However, it eventually came into conflict with the Puuc region cities and Chichen Itza itself, which eventually gained the upper hand in relations. The city declined significantly after 1000 CE, but continued to serve as a pilgrimage destination until the Spanish arrived in the region.
The Ruins of Tulum
After a day of fun in the sun swimming in Cenotes and admiring the white sand beaches, we continued our Maya Marathon at the fabulous site of Tulum. Tulum, which was still a vibrant city when the Spanish arrived, is a much later site than any of the others that we have talked about thus far. Additionally, its prominent location on a cliff overlooking the open sea meant that it was the first Mayan city on the mainland that Cortes laid eyes on. He did not land here (the barrier reef being too dangerous), but Tulum's ornate temples and high walls gave birth to the myth of a rich, gold laden empire that Cortes and his successors sought after relentlessly until they had fully subjugated Meso-America two centuries later.
Tulum, the Mayan Riviera
Transparent waters of a turquoise blue we thought only existed in the world of photoshop, beaches of fine white sand lined with coconut trees like in ice cream commercials, and inspiring Mayan ruins that seem to be dancing in the sea breeze on steep cliff-tops... This is Tulum, a picture-perfect postcard destination on the Mexican Caribbean.