First published: 03/03/25.

Dennis Nicklaus 1

Historical City Of Izamal

Historical city of Izamal (On tentative list)

Historical city of Izamal by Can SARICA

Izamal is worth a visit for two primary reasons:  Kinich Kak Moo -- ruins of an enormous Maya pyramid, and the convent of San Antonio de Padua.  It's otherwise a nice enough small city to stop by, and there are remants of a few other Maya structures scattered through the town center.  We drove in, and guided by Google Maps to Kinich Kak Moo, started looking for a parking space. We were soon amazed to discover that the block we were driving around was the huge temple itself.  It's base measures roughly 200 x 180 meters.  It's not a full on pyramid going up from those dimensions now, but there is still a pretty significant temple in the center of the broad raised tableau that you can ascend. 

The town's other main attraction, the convent, was finished in 1561.  It is built on a terrace that was another former Maya pyramid that was flattened by the Spanish.  It's very pleasant to walk around the huge atrium and the chapel is nice, but nothing really that ornate or special. The convent is now painted in the town's signature yellow color.  

We also enjoyed walking around the town finding some of the other ruined Maya structures which are simply incorporated into the town. None of the Maya ruins here are anywhere near the caliber of other nearby major sites like Ek Balam, Uxmal, etc. But they are interesting to see for the way they are right in the middle of the town, and for the size of the main one.

We had our own rental car, which made getting here pretty straightforward. Izamal was a nice stop along the way from Merida to Ek Balam. I agree with the previous reviewer Don about Merida being a great base for exploring the area. We used it as a base for 5 nights before heading off to Izamal and points east.

 

My photo is of the convent taken from the top of the Kinich Kak Moo pyramid.

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