Temple of the Columns

January 11, 2008 by 6 Comments

Mayan Ruins © 2008 Bo Mackison

The Mayan ruins at Tulum, Mexico.

The House of the Columns is more complex than most structures at the site. It’s a palace-like structure with four rooms whose principal entrance faces South. Six columns support the roof of the main room and there’s also a roofed sanctuary with altars. Mayans did perform live human sacrifices to their gods with willing volunteers. (Anyone up for a nice volunteer job?)

All of Tulum’s buildings were open to the public until 9 years ago. They were closed at that time due to problems with graffiti despoilation on the interior walls done by stupid people.

These renowned archeological sites were constructed in the classic era between 650 AD and 1450 AD; most of the remaining structures are dated from 1250 to 1450 AD. Until the 16th century, they were inhabited towns. Then the Europeans came. The Spanish conquered the Mayans in 1518, bringing to the Mayans devastating Old World diseases. By 1521, the Mayans had abruptly abandoned their way of life in Tulum and other sites in Mexico, and they disappeared in a short period of time.

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Iguana Sky

January 10, 2008 by 10 Comments

Iguana Sky © 2008 Bo Mackison

Iguana checking the sky while perched on the top of the wall that surrounds the ancient city of Tulum, a Mayan ceremonial and residential community in Mexico.

The walls are 7 feet wide, plenty of stone to keep Mayan enemies at bay, and space enough for an extended family of iguanas to sun themselves.

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Temple of the Wind

January 9, 2008 by 3 Comments

Temple of the Winds © 2008 Bo Mackison

Photographed at the ruins of Tulum, an archeological site of the Mayans dating from 650 AD. It is located on the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico, just south of Cozumel on the mainland.

The “Temple of the Wind” is perched high over the Caribbean Sea. It was designed by the Mayans as a lookout for marauders and more importantly as a hurricane warning system. When the hurricane winds headed for a direct hit on Tulum, the winds whistled through a specially designed hole at the top of the temple. The Mayans would hear the signal and then know to leave the walled city and seek protection near the outer wall. (12 feet high and seven feet thick).

The temple whistled when Hurricane Roxanne reached hurricane force winds in 1995.

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Palm and Stones

January 8, 2008 by 8 Comments

Palm at Tulum © 2008 Bo Mackison

At Tulum, a Mayan ruins on the coast of the Caribbean in Mexico.

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