Tulum was built around AD 1200; it reached the peak of its development two centuries later. It is one of the last Maya outposts of the late Post-Classic Period. Perched above the Caribbean on the Yucatan coast, Tulum was an important port and commercial center that participated in the maritime trade that extended from Central America to central Mexico. Tulum means "wall" in the Mayan language, and in fact it is surrounded by defensive stone walls on three sides, with watchtowers, and walkways. A number of roads linked the urban center of Tulum with the forests of the interior.

View of the site

The Spanish came across the city during Juan de Grijalva's expedition of 1518. Grijalva reports of the fortifications and buildings painted red, white and blue, and compares the city in size and stature to Seville. The ruins are less extensive than Chichén Itzá and Uxmal. Some of the decorative motifs and architectural colonnades recall earlier Chichén Itzá. Murals dating to the 15th century indicate two styles: one traditionally Maya and another in the Mixteca-Puebla style favored by the Aztecs. One mural was painted late enough to depict a Spanish horse.

The ruins overlook the Caribbean

There are three major structures of interest: El Castillo (the tower which dominates the area), The Temple of the Frescoes, and The Temple of the Descending God. El Castillo El Castillo (The Castle) is the largest building, located in a dramatic position on a cliff top overlooking the sea. The steps lead to an upper temple featuring columns decorated with plumed serpents as seen in Chichén Itzá and an indication of Toltec influence. It would also have been used as a watchtower, with visibility over land and sea.

El Castillo

The Temple of the Descending God Above the door of the Temple of the Descending God there is a stucco relief of a figure prevalent at Tulum, the upside-down winged god that also shows bee-like features. This figure is sometimes referred to as the "diving god" because of its position and the resemblance to a bee signifies the importance of honey to the Mayans.(See Cobá) The Temple of the Frescoes The Temple of the Frescoes is perhaps one of the last monuments constructed by the Maya people. Here fragments of color can be seen on murals depicting Maya life. Amongst the frescoes is a portrayal of a man on a horse, which indicates that these drawings were still being worked on after the Spanish invasion. The horse was introduced by the Spanish and clearly had a disarming effect on the Mayans - originally it was thought that horse and rider were one being, and later, when one of Cortés' horses died, its skeleton was worshipped as a god.

The temple of the descending god

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