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Maya of the Riviera

The civilization may have peaked around AD 800, but the Maya still live and work right here.

By Jeff Borg

The ancient Maya created a brilliant civilization, with dense cities, splendid art, advanced mathematics and complex calendars. The Maya’s roots reach down thousands of years into Mesoamerica, and their civilization peaked around AD 800.

While the great cities eventually receded into the jungle, the Maya people did not. About 350,000 still live and work on the Yucatán Peninsula.

In Riviera Maya, archeologists have cataloged a hundred ancient sites. The big three — Tulum, Cobá and Muyil — are largely restored and easy for visitors to access. Excursions reach out to nearby Chichén Itzá.



CHICHÉN ITZÁ. Now a three-hour drive from Playa del Carmen, the grand city of Chichén Itzá reigned over Yucatán for more than 400 years. At the height of its power in the 11th and 12th centuries, it exerted more political and economic control over the peninsula than any Maya city before or since.

The Maya first settled Chichén Itzá, a name that means Mouth of the Well of the Itzá, around AD 800, then abandoned it. The new dynasty established at Chi­chén Itzá around the year 1000 was largely foreign. Three buildings define the city’s grand central plaza: the Castillo, the Grand Ball Court and the Temple of the Warriors.

The Castillo is also called the Pyramid of Kukulcán. Feathered serpents carved as ­balustrades decorate the landmark’s northern staircase. At the vernal and autumnal equinoxes, crowds come to see afternoon sun and shadow bring these architectural ornaments to life, transforming them into diamondback rattlesnakes writhing slowly.

The Grand Ball Court, largest in Meso­america and one of eight in Chichén, has a playing alley 550 feet long, with temples at either end. The Temple of the Jaguars and Shields has carved rattlesnake columns, tablets etched with jaguars and the faded mural of a battle.

The Temple of the Warriors sits behind a dense colonnade of square pillars adorned with Toltec warriors carved in relief. A chacmool sculpture reclines at the main entrance, serpent columns flank the door, and the inner sanctum has an altar borne by tiny warriors. Called the Group of a Thousand Columns, an impressive forest of cylindrical pillars defines the temple’s southern court.

TULUM. Chichén did business with its southern neighbors through maritime ­networks, using the port of Tulum and others near Ascension Bay, now part of Riviera Maya.

In 1518, Tulum strongly impressed European explorers who sighted it from the Caribbean. Its grand temple stood on a high bluff overlooking the sea, and a thick wall enclosed the community on three sides.  Tulum echoed the architecture of Chichén Itzá, with serpentine columns and other familiar motifs, but buildings were smaller, with thick plaster masking irregular masonry, like cities built well after Chichén. One stela had a date corresponding to AD 761, but it may have been moved to Tulum long after it was carved. One common architectural ­ornament was the bee god, often set in a niche over a doorway since honey and wax were important to the economy.

The style of Tulum’s murals is uniformly Maya, but the execution reflects the influence of the Mixtec-Puebla style, indicating strong ties with central Mexico. Smaller communities along the coast, such as Xel-Há and Tankah, were secondary ports in Tulum’s orbit.

DECLINE. Chichén Itzá’s hegemony ended in a political upheaval engineered by the lord of Mayapán, who had won fame for surviving a plunge into the sacred cenote. Mayapán had languished in the shadow of Chichén. Then at the wedding of the lord of Izamal, the lord of Mayapán goaded the lord of Chichén Itzá to steal the bride. This outrage heaped insufferable insult onto Izamal. So Mayapán, allied with Mexico and now Izamal, sacked Chichén and replaced it as the center of power.

In the end, it was Maya tradition that proved most durable on the Yucatán. Mayapán restored the local nobility and resumed new building activity. 

Chichén Itzá was finally abandoned in the 14th century, and then rediscovered in the 20th. Today sightseeing buses and rental cars bring day-trippers from Riviera Maya and explorers from around the world. This is an excursion not to be missed.

Back on the riviera, modern Maya, Mexican, European and American cultures blend harmoniously, fusing their cuisines, scientific achievements and artistic traditions, resulting in a unique new culture. Call it “Riviera Maya style.”



¡Mi casa es su casa!

By Antonio Díaz

Millions come from around the world to visit the Mexican Caribbean. A lucky few actually get to stay, like Douglas Goubault, former resident of the frosty Canadian city of Victoria, British Columbia, now leading the efforts to turn Mexico’s Riviera Maya into a top golf destination.

“I came to Riviera Maya because the quality of life here is second to none,” says Goubault, acting president of the Mexican Caribbean Golf Course Association. “I find a wonderful mix of traditional authenticity and Maya culture, but with a modern European touch. I’m fascinated by the diversity.

“New investment, mixed with a unique history, provides something for everyone, whether visiting, retiring or investing,” says Goubault, who was instrumental in negotiations that brought the PGA Tour south of the border.