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The city
Uxmal is one of the Maya cities most representative of the Puuc region
Uxmal is an ancient Maya city of the classical period, 62 km south of Mérida. It was named a UNESCO World Heritage Site along with the nearby ruins of Kabah, Sayil and Labna.
The name
The name may mean three times built, and tradition called it an invisible city
The name seems to derive from Oxmal, meaning three times built, which may refer to the site's age and the rebuilding it needed. By tradition it was an invisible city, built in one night by the magic of the dwarf king.
The palace
The Governor's Palace carries almost 400 Venus glyphs
The Governor's Palace is a long low building on a huge platform, with the longest facades in Pre-Columbian Mesoamerica. Its decoration contains almost 400 Venus glyphs on masks of the rain god Chac, and eight bicephalic serpents above the main entrance.
almost 400Venus glyphs in the facade decoration
The pyramid
The Pyramid of the Magician has oval levels, a newer temple above an older one
The Adivino, or Pyramid of the Magician, is unusual because its layers are oval or elliptical, not rectilinear. A newer pyramid was built slightly east of the older one, so the old temple is preserved on the west side with the new temple above it.
The quadrangle
The Nunnery Quadrangle was named for a convent, but it was a royal palace
The Nunnery Quadrangle was built from 900 to 1000, and was given its name in the 16th century because it resembled a convent. Its formal entrance and the absence of domestic elements suggest a royal palace with administrative functions.
Day 2, morning
It comes after Hacienda Yaxcopoil. Then Kabah.
More stories from this trip idea
The words are a retelling of the Wikipedia article Uxmal, and are shared under CC BY-SA 4.0. They are checked against those articles, and a fact that is not in them is left out.