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Published: November 15th 2008
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Ruta Puuc and the Convent Route:
The Ruta Puuc is located to the south of Merida and consists of the Mayan ruin sites called Mayapan, Uxmal, Xlapak, Sayil, Kabah and Labnah. The name Ruta Puuc means hilly route. Also along this route is the henequen hacienda called Yaxcopoil and Loltun caves. The Puuc style is known for its elaborately ornamented building facades.
We travelled the Ruta Puuc during the summer of 2004, June of 2005, April of 2006 and January of 2007. Chuck and I have gone alone, with our daughters Danielle and Angela, with our good friends Tim and Nikki, and with the parents Charlie and Judy. Each time we go we learn something new and find our visit to be even more interesting than the one before.
The Ruta Puuc can be done as a daytrip from Merida if you can leave early in the morning, get out of Merida without getting lost, and do not plan to spend even an hour at each place. We prefer to take our time. There are hotels in the towns of Ticul and Oxcutzcab, as well as at Uxmal. I stayed in the town of
Ticul at the Hotel San Antonio and the Hacienda and Lodge at Uxmal.
The atmosphere between staying in Ticul compared to Uxmal is entirely different. Ticul is a traditional Mexican town and not a tourist area, no all inclusive resorts here. If you enjoy being off the road less travelled and immersing yourself in the local culture, then this is for you. When we stayed in Ticul there was a festival so people were out and about in the town square. There is also a market with food vendors.
The Hacienda and Lodge at Uxmal are absolutely beautiful, both with pools and full service restaurants. The Lodge is adjacent to Uxmal and the Hacienda is right across the street. The two are situated in a garden like setting and there is nothing nearby except the ruins of Uxmal and the nature of Yucatan. The Lodge and the Hacienda offer traditional Yucatecan dishes and there is often live acoustic music to enjoy in the evenings, or it is quite nice to just sit at night and listen to the sounds of the wildlife.
Uxmal is a Unesco World Heritage Site and is one of
the most preserved and well maintained in the Yucatan. The name Uxmal has been translated from the Mayan language as meaning either three times built or three times occupied. It was first occupied circa 500 to 600 CE by the Xiu who migrated to the Yucatan from the west. The Xiu allied themselves with the Itza of Chichen and the Cocom of Mayapan forming the League of Mayapan and implementing Kukulkan or Quetzalcoatl throughout the region.
Uxmal is an impressive and expansive site. The Pyramid of the Magician is the first structure to be seen upon entering Uxmal. An ancient Mayan legend says that the pyramid was built in one night by the god Itzamna. Scholars have determined that the pyramid was actually built over at least five successive phases of construction. The Uxmal ruins are also comprised of the Nunnery Quadrangle surrounding a plaza adjacent to the Pyramid of the Magician. The Nunnery includes a series of one-story buildings featuring facades decorated with carvings that portray the gods Chac, Tlaloc and Kukalkan. There is a ballcourt located south of the Pyramid and Nunnery. The Mayan ballgame was played as a sport, but it also had significant spiritual
meaning and religious implication. At Uxmal there are also the House of the Turtles, the Governors Palace, the House of the Old Woman, and approximately six other temples and series of structures.
After Uxmal along the Puuc Route is Kabah; the two sites were connected by a sacbe or white road during Mayan occupation. The name Kabah means strong hand in the Mayan language. Buildings at Kabah were constructed between circa 600 to 1000 CE. The most impressive structure at Kabah is the Palace of the Masks. The façade of this building is covered with rows and columns of Chac masks representative of the Mayan rain god.
Next along the Ruta Puuc is the ruin site Sayil. Sayil was constructed between 750 and 1000 CE. El Palacio is the most important and impressive structure at Sayil. El Palacio is a three-story building with 98 rooms presumably used for residence or as living quarters. El Mirador is another structure found at Sayil, however this building features architectural characteristics more akin to the Chenes style like that of Tikal in Guatemala.
Xlapak is the next ruin on the Puuc Route. The name Xlapak means old walls.
Some scholars speculate that Xlapak may have been part of nearby Labnah. This is one of the least explored ruins sites in the region with only three structures under partial restoration. The main structure at Xlapak is in the Puuc style and bears a striking resemblance to structures at Uxmal like the Nunnery and Governors Palace.
Labnah is the final ruin along the Puuc Route. The name Labnah means old houses in the Mayan language. The Archway is the most well known of the structures at Labnah. The Archway is situated at the end of a sacbe linking it to the Great Palace and the Mirador, two other structures partially restored at Labnah. The Archway is over twenty feet tall and forty feet in height. It provides good example of Puuc style architecture.
Mayapan is another nearby site in the area. Although Mayapan is actually located on the Convent Route, this route adjoins the Puuc Route along its southerly end. Mayapan is a much smaller site than that of Uxmal and it has structures similar to those at Chichen Itza. Like Chichen Itza, Mayapan also has a Pyramid of Kukulkan and an Observatory, albeit on a
smaller scale. Mayapan reached florescence between 1200 and 1450 CE after which time it was sacked, burned and abandoned. Mayapan is a walled city covering roughly four square kilometers. The structures at Mayapan feature beautiful carvings and paintings in remarkably good condition. Likely because Mayapan is less restored it is also less frequented than Uxmal or Chichen Itza, so most days one can enjoy a quiet and uninterrupted visit.
The Convent Route, together with the Ruta Puuc, forms a circlular route south of Merida. The Convent Route winds through the Yucatecan countryside through Mayan villages and small towns featuring beautiful colonial churches and convents. Towns along the Convent Route include Acanceh, Tecoh, Tekit, Mama, Teabo, and Mani.
On the highway leading from Merida to the Ruta Puuc is Yaxcopoil; the place of the green trees. Yaxcopoil dates back to the seventeenth century when it functioned as a cattle ranch. The hacienda later thrived as a henequen or sisal hacienda during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Henequen was in large demand and used to make fiber twine for the farming industry prior to the invention of synthetic fibers. Hacienda Yaxcopoil now has a museum with
Mayan artifacts from the surrounding area and a guest house that can be rented for overnight stays. Walking through the hacienda is like walking back in time as the buildings and grounds feature antique furnishings and machinery from the henequen boom. Yaxcopoil is also home to gardens with an array of plants native to the Yucatan.
Near where the Convent and Puuc Routes connect are Loltun Caves. Loltun portrays the natural and cultural history of the Yucatan from the Pleistocene to modern times. The remains of extinct animals such as mammoth and bison have been found within the caves providing evidence of cooler climates than that of the Yucatan today. Remains of humans were also found within the caves, in addition to ancient pottery, petroglyphs, paintings and an Olmec head. The Maya people used the caves for sacred purposes as well as fortification and defense during the Caste War. Throughout the caves are many stalactites, stalagmites, and columns that formed by stalactites and stalagmites joining together. Some of these columns are musical; when knocked they produce sounds of different tones. The last area of Loltun Caves is a large room with a collapsed ceiling and hanging tree
Loltun
Musical Columns roots.
The Puuc and Convent Routes are a wonderful way for visitors to learn about the culture and history of the Yucatan. As previously mentioned it is possible to make this a one day trip, but with so much to see it should really be done over at least a couple or a few days. We have best enjoyed it by staying at Uxmal and one of the towns along the Convent Route like Ticul and taking the time to take in all of the sites and sounds, and people and places of the Puuc region of the Yucatan.
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