Bone-white beaches, the balmy teal waters of the Caribbean, a dense jungle dotted with cool cenotes and mystical Maya ruins—the Yucatan offers up a little bit of everything for the Mexico-bound traveler, whether you’re seeking the sun, the sand, or a glimpse into pre-Hispanic history.
Notable to Mexico and familiar to most people, by way of photographic images in travel magazines, are the amazing pyramids and their singular design features. Mexico’s Pyramid of the Magician is perhaps one of the most famous of these structures and one of the most massive pyramids in Mesoamerica, an amazing wonder due to the shear construction effort that it entailed. It is the largest building in the pre-Columbian city of Uxmal as well.
In 2007, a six-year initiative culminated in a popularity poll aimed to pick seven new wonders of the world from a short list of 200 existing monuments. While many of the places that failed to make the cut are highly desirable destinations, the Acropolis of Athens, Angkor Wat and Eiffel Tower included, the selected seven are rightly found at the top of many a traveler’s bucket list.
Uxmal (OOSH-mahl) means “‘built three times” in the Mayan language, and though its name is a mystery, its beauty is not. As a World Heritage site, it is one of the best-restored and maintained archaeological sites in the Yucatán, and certainly one of the most magnificent. Its architecture, some of the most majestic of the …
