Special Attractions
February 12
10:52 AM
Rating: 4.0

Location: Dzbilchaltun, Yucatan
Entrance Fee: 304 (2 non Mexicans)
Notes: A Mayan ruin that was first excavated in the 1950s by a team from National Geographic, this site’s main feature is a rectangular building that was used to predict the equinoxes, eclipses and other astronomical events.
Our guide showed us photographs of the sun, moon and stars as they shone through the doors at the apprpriate dates. Very impressive. She also told us that it was a substantial city covering more than 19 sq kms.
The archeologists reconstructed some of the walls of the ruins but delineated the original from the reconstruction with a line of stones. The first time we have seen this done.
Most of the buildings have not been excavated yet due to a lack of money. Instead the Mexican government has been putting money into interpretive centers at each ruin and collecting money from the tourists. Today this site was quite busy because a cruise ship was in port and busloads of tourists from it were also visiting.
The day was hot but we walked the whole site that was accessable. At one end was a beautiful cenote that people were swimming in. We wished we had brought our bathingsuits!
Entry located at: https://www.google.com/maps/@21.0915559,-89.5960915,100m/data=!3m1!1e3

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