Yucatán · Maya
Uxmal is one of the finest places to explore Puuc architecture. Its carefully composed buildings and richly decorated façades reward a slow visit.
Photography © Bill Bell
What to see at Uxmal
Begin with the Pyramid of the Magician, the Nunnery Quadrangle and the Governor’s Palace. Look closely at the stone mosaics and carved details.
Planning your visit
Uxmal is a natural starting point for exploring the Puuc region alongside Kabah, Sayil and Labná. Allow several hours for Uxmal and avoid packing too many sites into one day.
Uxmal (Yucatec Maya: Óoxmáal) 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
Muna. Though it is thought to also have more than one hidden tomb of the gods.
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.
Ancient history
Panorama of UxmalWhile 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.
Maya chronicles say that Uxmal was founded about 500 A.D. 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.
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.
Maya Oxmal “Three Times Built” or
Mayan Uchmal “What is to Come, the Future.”
Uxmal, Yucatan – Planning Your Visit
Uxmal, Yucatan – Historical Notes
Uxmal, Yucatan – Main Entrance and Starting Your Exploration
Uxmal, Yucatan – Interactive Map
Uxmal, Yucatan – North Group
Uxmal, Yucatan – Quadrangle
Uxmal, Yucatan – The Nunnery
Uxmal, Yucatan – Ball Court
Uxmal, Yucatan – Great Pyramid
Uxmal, Yucatan – Pyramid of the Magician
Uxmal, Yucatan – Pyramid of the Witch
Continue exploring
More archaeological sites in Yucatán · Mexico map
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