Panorama of Uxmal

Uxmal (20°21′34″N, 89°46′17″W) is a large Pre-Columbian ruined city of the Maya civilization in the state of Yucatán, Mexico. It is 78 km south of Mérida, Yucatán, or 110 km from that city on Highway 261 towards Campeche, Campeche), 15 km south-southeast of the town of Muná. Image File history File linksMetadata Uxmal01-panorama. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Uxmal01-panorama. ... The term Pre-Columbian is used to refer to the cultures of the New World in the era before significant European influence. ... monkey poo This article is about the pre-Columbian Maya civilization. ... Yucatán is the name of one of the 31 states of Mexico, located on the north of the Yucatán Peninsula. ... Cathedral on the Plaza Mayor, the oldest in North America [1]. Mérida is the capital city of the Mexican state of Yucatán. ... View of Campeche, showing Cathedral and part of old city fortifications Campeche is a city of Mexico located at 19°85′ N 90°53′ W, on the shore of the Gulf of Mexico. ... Muná is a small city in Yucatán state, Mexico, to the south of the state capital of Mérida at 20. ...

Uxmal is pronounced "Oosh-mahl". The place name is Pre-Columbian and it is usually assumed to be an archaic Maya language phrase meaning "Built Three Times", although some scholars of the Maya language dispute this derivation. Maya language may refer to: generally, any one of the various Mayan languages, a related group of languages spoken by the Maya peoples of Mesoamerica specifically, Yukatek (Yucatec) Maya language is frequently referred to simply as Maya language Maya language (Brazil), an unclassified language of Brazil that may be related...

Adivino from the ground level, a person near the top, holding onto a chain which extends down the (rather steep) steps

Adivino from the South-West, showing newer temple-pyramid around older one

uxmal adivino, from ground level (the overall shot I got of it is no good). ... Uxmal, Adivino temple from south-west, photo by User:Infrogmation, 1975 Non-exclusive use granted under GNU Free Documentation License File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Uxmal, Adivino temple from south-west, photo by User:Infrogmation, 1975 Non-exclusive use granted under GNU Free Documentation License File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ...

Ancient history

While much work has been done at the popular tourist destination of Uxmal to consolidate and restore buildings, little in the way of serious archeological excavation and research has been done here, therefore the city's dates of occupation are unknown and the estimated population (about 25,000 people) is at present only a very rough guess subject to change upon better data. Most of the architecture visible today was built between about 700 and 1100. // Events Saint Adamnan convinces 51 kings to adopt Cáin Adomnáin defining the relationship between women and priests. ... Events William II of England dies in a hunting accident - Henry I becomes King of England King Henry I proclaims the Charter of Liberties, one of the first examples of a constitution. ...

Maya chronicles say that Uxmal was founded about 500 by Hun Uitzil Chac Tutul Xiu. For generations Uxmal was ruled over by the Xiu family, was the most powerful site in western Yucatan, and for a while in alliance with Chichen Itza dominated all of the northern Maya area. Sometime after about 1200 no new major construction seems to have been made at Uxmal, possibly related to the fall of Uxmal's ally Chichen Itza and the shift of power in Yucatan to Mayapan. The Xiu moved their capital to Maní, and the population of Uxmal declined. Events Possible date for the Battle of Mons Badonicus: Romano-British and Celts defeat an Anglo-Saxon army that may have been led by the bretwalda Aelle of Sussex (approximate date; suggested dates range from 490 to 510) Note: This battle may have influenced the legend of King Arthur. ... Temple of the Warriors Chichen Itza is the largest of the Pre-Columbian archaeological sites in Yucat n, Mexico. ... Mayapan (in Spanish Mayapán) is a Pre-Columbian Maya site in the state of Yucatán, Mexico, about 40 km south-east of Mérida and 100 km west of Chichen Itza. ... Maní is a small city in the state of Yucatán, Mexico. ...

After the Spanish conquest of Yucatán (in which the Xiu allied themselves with the Spanish), early colonial documents suggest that Uxmal was still an inhabited place of some importance into the 1550s, but no Spanish town was built here and Uxmal was soon after largely abandoned. The Spanish Conquest of Yucatán was a long and involved process taking some 170 years to complete. ... Events and Trends Categories: 1550s ...

Description of the site

Even before the restoration work Uxmal was in better condition than many other Maya sites thanks to being unusually well built. Much was built with well cut stones not relying on plaster to hold the building together. The Maya architecture here is considered matched only by that of Palenque in elegance and beauty. The Puuc style of Maya architecture predominates. Thanks to its good state of preservation, it is one of the few Maya cities where the casual visitor can get a good idea of how the entire ceremonial center looked in ancient times. The Palace, Ruins of Palenque Palenque is a Maya archeological site near the Usumacinta River in the Mexican state of Chiapas, about 130 km south of Ciudad del Carmen (see map). ... Puuc building at Chunhuhub, Campeche, as drawn by Frederick Catherwood, 1841 Puuc is a style of Pre-Columbian architecture of the Maya civilization. ...

Some of the more noteworthy buildings include:

the Nunnery Quadrangle at Uxmal

La Gran Pyramide (The Great Pyramid) at Uxmal

• The Governor's Palace, a long low building atop a huge platform, with the longest façades in Pre-Columbian Mesoamerica.
• The Adivino or "Pyramid of the Magician", a fine pyramid temple unusual in several ways. The layers of the step pyramid are oval, rather than the usual rectangular or square shape. It was a common practice in Mesoamerica to build new temple pyramids atop older ones, but here a newer pyramid was built centered slightly to the east of the older pyramid, so that on the west side the temple atop the old pyramid is preserved, with the newer temple above it.
• The Nunnery Quadrangle (a nickname given to it by the Spanish; it was a government palace) is the finest of Uxmal's several fine quadrangles of long buildings with elaborately carved façades on both the inside and outside faces
• A large Ballcourt for playing the Mesoamerican ballgame, which an inscription there informs us was dedicated in 901 by Chan Chak K'ak'nal-Ahau.

A number of other temple-pyramids, quadrangles, and other monuments, some of significant size, and in varying states of preservation, are also at Uxmal. nunnery quadrangle (now correctly titled!) pic taken in summer 1997. ... nunnery quadrangle (now correctly titled!) pic taken in summer 1997. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (2272x1704, 2185 KB) Summary La Gran Pyramide (The Great Pyramid) at the Mayan ruins of Uxmal, Mexico. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (2272x1704, 2185 KB) Summary La Gran Pyramide (The Great Pyramid) at the Mayan ruins of Uxmal, Mexico. ... Mesoamerica is the region extending from central Mexico south to the northwestern border of Costa Rica that gave rise to a group of stratified, culturally related agrarian civilizations spanning an approximately 3,000-year period before the European discovery of the New World by Columbus. ... Geometric shape created by connecting a polygonal base to an apex For other versions including architectural Pyramids, see Pyramid (disambiguation). ... The Angkor Wat Hindu temple in Cambodia is the largest in the world. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Ulama game. ...

The majority of hieroglyphic inscriptions were on a series of stone stelae unusually grouped together on a single platform. The stelae depict the ancient rulers of the city, and they show signs that they were deliberately broken and toppled in antiquity; some were re-erected and repaired.

A further suggestion of possible war or battle is found in the remains of a wall which encircled most of the central ceremonial center.

A large raised stone pedestrian causeway links Uxmal with the site of Kabah, some 18 km to the south. Kabah (also spelled Kabaah, Kabáh, Kahbah and Kaba) is a ruined city of the Maya civilization in the south-east of the state of Yucatán, Mexico. ...

Detail of "Nunnery Quadrangle" fascade as drawn by Catherwood

View of part of the Nunnery Quadrangle fascade, Uxmal, published by Frederick Catherwood, 1844 This image has been released into the public domain by the copyright holder, its copyright has expired, or it is ineligible for copyright. ... View of part of the Nunnery Quadrangle fascade, Uxmal, published by Frederick Catherwood, 1844 This image has been released into the public domain by the copyright holder, its copyright has expired, or it is ineligible for copyright. ...

Modern history of the ruins

The site, located not far from Mérida beside a road to Campeche, has attracted many visitors since the time of Mexico's independence. The first detailed account of the ruins was published by Jean Frederic Waldeck in 1838. John Lloyd Stephens and Frederick Catherwood made two extended visits to Uxmal in the early 1840s, with architect/draftsman Catherwood reportedly making so many plans and drawings that they could be used to construct a duplicate of the ancient city (unfortunately most of the drawings are lost). Désiré Charnay took a series of photographs of Uxmal in 1860. Some three years later Empress Carlota of Mexico visited Uxmal; in preparation for her visit local authorities had some statues and architectural elements depicting phallic themes removed from the ancient façades. Jean Frederic Maximilien de Waldeck (March 16, 1766 - April 30, 1875) was a French antiquarian, cartographer, artist and explorer. ... | Jöns Jakob Berzelius, discoverer of protein 1838 was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... John Lloyd Stephens (November 28, 1805–October 13, 1852) was a American explorer, writer, and diplomat. ... Frederick Catherwood (February 27, 1799 - September 20, 1854) was an English artist and architect, best remembered for his explorations of ruins of the Maya civilization. ... Claude-Joseph Désiré Charnay (2 May 1828 - 24 October 1915) was a French traveller and archaeologist notable both for his explorations of Mexico and Central America, and for the pioneering use of photography to document his discoveries. ... A sepia-tinted photograph of an English couple, taken in 1895. ... 1860 is the leap year starting on Sunday. ... Carlota of Mexico (also spelled Carlotta; sometimes rendered as Charlotte) (June 7, 1840 – January 19, 1927) was the wife of regime largely dependent on French troops under the orders of Napoleon III. The only daughter of Leopold I, King of the Belgians (1790–1865) by his second wife, Louise d... The penis (plural penises or penes) or phallus is an external male sexual organ. ...

Sylvanus G. Morley made a map of the site in 1909 which included some previously overlooked buildings. The Mexican' governments first project to consolidate some of the structures from risk of collapse or further decay came in 1927. In 1930 Frans Blom led a Tulane University expedition to the site which included making plaster casts of the façades of the "Nunnery Quadrangle"; using these casts a replica of the Quadrangle was constructed and displayed at the 1933 World's Fair in Chicago, Illinois. In 1936 a further Mexican government repair and consolidation program was begun under José Erosa Peniche. Photo taken c. ... 1909 (MCMIX) was a common year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ... 1927 (MCMXXVII) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will take you to calendar). ... 1930 (MCMXXX) is a common year starting on Wednesday. ... Tulane University is a private, nonsectarian, coeducational research university located in New Orleans, Louisiana. ... A 1933 Century of Progress worlds fair poster The Century of Progress Exposition was a worlds fair held in Chicago, Illinois from 1933-1934 to celebrate Chicagos centennial. ... Nickname: The Windy City Motto: Urbs In Horto (Latin: City in a Garden), I Will Official website: http://egov. ... 1936 (MCMXXXVI) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). ...

Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom visited on 27 February of 1975 for the inaguration of the site's sound & light show; when the presentation reached the point where the sound system played the Maya prayer to Chaac, a sudden torrential downpour fell upon the gathered dignitaries, despite the fact that it was the middle of the dry season. Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary Windsor) (born 21 April 1926) is Queen of sixteen independent nations known as the Commonwealth Realms. ... February 27 is the 58th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1975 (MCMLXXV) was a common year starting on Wednesday (the link is to a full 1975 calendar). ... Chaac (also rendered as Chaak or Chac) is an important deity in the pantheon of the pre-Columbian Maya civilization in Mesoamerica. ...

Two hotels and a small museum have been built within the remains of the ancient city.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

Uxmal

• Uxmal, a Photo Gallery
• Uxmal on mayaruins.com Map of the site's central portion and various photographs.
• Uxmal Ruins Site containing good photographs of Uxmal.
• Uxmal on yucatantoday.com A Tourist's guide to the ruins.

World Heritage Sites in Mexico

Calakmul | Campeche | Chichen Itza | El Tajín | Franciscan Missions in the Sierra Gorda | Guanajuato and adjacent mines | Hospicio Cabañas, Guadalajara | Islands and Protected Areas of the Gulf of California | Luis Barragán House and Studio | Mexico City and Xochimilco | Monasteries of Popocatépetl | Morelia | Oaxaca and Monte Albán | Palenque | Paquimé, Casas Grandes | Puebla | Querétaro | Rock Paintings of Sierra de San Francisco | Sian Ka'an | Teotihuacán | Tlacotalpan | Uxmal | Whale Sanctuary of El Vizcaino | Xochicalco | Zacatecas Image File history File links Commons-logo. ... The Wikimedia Commons (also called Commons or Wikicommons) is a repository of free content images, sound and other multimedia files. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Mexico. ... Elabana Falls is in Lamington National Park, part of the Central Eastern Rainforest Reserves World Heritage site in Queensland, Australia. ... Calakmul is the name of both a municipality and a major archeological site in the Mexican state of Campeche, in the central part of the Yucatán Peninsula. ... View of Campeche, showing Cathedral and part of old city fortifications Campeche is a city of Mexico located at 19°85′ N 90°53′ W, on the shore of the Gulf of Mexico. ... Temple of the Warriors Chichen Itza is the largest of the Pre-Columbian archaeological sites in Yucat n, Mexico. ... El Tajín is a Pre-Columbian archaeological site near the city of Papantla, in the state of Veracruz, Mexico. ... The Franciscan Missions of the Sierra Gorda, Querétaro, Mexico were declared a World Heritage Site by the UNESCO in 2003. ... An aerial view of downtown Guanajuato The city of Guanajuato is the capital of the state of the same name. ... Cityhall Downtown Guadalajara Plaza Tapatia at night Plaza de la Liberacion & Cathedral Guadalajara is the second largest city in Mexico, located in the Western-Pacific region. ... Mexico City (Spanish: Ciudad de México, México D.F. or simply México, pronounced /mexiko/ in IPA) is the capital and largest city of the nation of Mexico. ... Xochimilco within the Federal District Xochimilco (Nahuatl for in the flowery fields) refers to both: One of the 16 delegaciones (or boroughs) within the Mexican Federal District (Mexico City), and The name of a series of canals within that delegacion, all that remains of the ancient Lake Xochimilco. ... Popocatépetl (commonly referred to as El Popo or Don Goyo) is an active volcano and the second highest peak in Mexico after the Pico de Orizaba (5,610m). ... This article is about the city. ... Catedral de Oaxaca, located at the Zócalo (central square) Santo Domingo de Guzmán Church The city of Oaxaca, Oaxaca (formally: Oaxaca de Juárez, in honor of 19th-century president and national hero Benito Juárez, who was born nearby) is the capital and main city of the... Monte Albán is a large archeological site in the state of Oaxaca, Mexico. ... The Palace, Ruins of Palenque Palenque is a Maya archeological site near the Usumacinta River in the Mexican state of Chiapas, about 130 km south of Ciudad del Carmen (see map). ... Casas Grandes ( Great Houses ), a small village of Mexico, in the state of Chihuahua, situated on the Casas Grandes or San Miguel river, about 35 m. ... The city of Puebla – known more formally as Heróica Puebla de Zaragoza or less formally as La Angelópolis or Puebla de los Ángeles – is the capital and largest city of the Mexican state of the same name, and the fourth largest city in Mexico, after Mexico City, Guadalajara... Latitude 20. ... Sian Kaan is a biosphere reserve in the state of Quintana Roo, Mexico. ... Teotihuacán (coordinates: 19°41′N 98°51′W) was the largest-known pre-Columbian city in the Americas, and the name is also used to refer to the civilization this city dominated, which at its greatest extent included much of Mesoamerica. ... The municipality of Tlacotalpan is located in the eastern coastal region of the Mexican state of Veracruz, at 18°37 N, 95°40 W. The municipalitys total surface area is 646. ... Xochicalco is a Pre-Columbian archeological site in the western part of the Morelos, Mexico. ... Zacatecas is a city in Mexico, the capital of the state of Zacatecas. ...