Tulum
Or
Tuluum Tulum was a walled city of the Mayan culture located in the
State of Quintana Roo, southeastern Mexico, the Caribbean coast. It is now a major tourist attraction on the Riviera Maya and beside it lies the modern town of the same name, Tulum. The Mayan city is located within the National Park Tulum.
The
city received in ancient Mayan name of Zama (meaning dawn or morning in
Maya) and the present, Tulum (meaning in Maya palisade or wall, this
name seems to have been used to refer to the city when it was already
in ruins), refers to the wall that surrounded it, constituted an important strong for his defense. For
the many records in murals and other works found in the buildings of
the city, the idea is that Tulum was an important center of worship for
so-called "descending god.
Although
inscriptions have been found dating from 564, most of the buildings
that are seen today were built in the post classic period of Mayan
civilization, between 1200 and 1450. The
city was still inhabited in the early years of the Spanish colony but
in the late sixteenth century were no longer residents.
Until
the early twentieth century some nearby villages used to visit the site
to bring gifts but the continued flow of tourists made the practice
obsolete.
Some frescoes found inside buildings suggest some Mixtec influence in the community.
In
Chapter 4, "Commerce and Navigation of the series" Maya Exploration
"aired on November 21, 2009 by History Channel Mexico, archaeologist
Pilar Luna, eminence of marine archeology in Mexico, explains the
importance of the building known as" The Castillo Maya for sailors, and that allowed them to avoid the dangers of the second longest coral reef in the world.
Navigators
to arrive at Maya Tulum, led by offshore parallel to the reef when you
view "The Castle", which fulfilled the function of the lighthouse, and
they indicated the time to take the channel that divided the reef, This
was achieved through the help of two windows on the facade of this
magnificent building, which when illuminated by natural light or
torches at night, they showed the right time to turn the boat and avoid
colliding with the reef safeguarding transporting goods.
