Izamal

Izamal is a small city in Yucatán state, Mexico, 72 km (about 40 miles) East of Mérida, Yucatán, at

Related Topics:
Yucatán - State - Mexico - Mérida, Yucatán

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Izamal has been continuously occupied for thousands of years. Population estimated at 15,000 people in 2000. It is known in Yucatan as "The Yellow City" (for customarily most of its buildings are painted that color) and "The City of Hills" (though most of the "hills" are probably the remains of ancient temple pyramids).

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Pre-Columbian stucco head, 7 ft 8 in (2.3 m) high

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Izamal was an important site of the Pre-Columbian Maya civilization. It was sacred to the creator deity Itzamna and to the Sun God Kinich Ahau. Izamal was a site of pilgrimage in the region rivaled only by Chichen Itza.

Related Topics:
Pre-Columbian - Maya civilization - Itzamna - Sun - Kinich Ahau - Pilgrimage - Chichen Itza

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Two huge Pre-Columbian structures are still easily visible at Izamal (and from some distance away in all directions). The first is a great pyramid to the Maya Sun God, Kinch Kak Mo, with a base covering over 2 acres (8,000 m²) of ground and a volume of some 700,000 cubic meters. Atop this grand base is a pyramid of 10 levels. (A great stucco mask still existed on one side as recently as the 1840s, and a drawing of it by Frederick Catherwood was published by John Lloyd Stephens.) The second structure is the so called "acropolis", known anciently as Popol Chac, a large man-made mound probably built up over several centuries and originally supporting city palaces and temples. After the Spanish conquest of Yucatán in the 16th century a Spanish colonial city was founded atop the existing Maya one, however it was decided that it would take a prohibitively large amount of work to level these two huge structures and so the Spanish contented themselves with placing a small Christian temple atop the great pyramid and building a large Franciscan Monastery atop the acropolis. It was named after San Antonio de Padua. Completed in 1561, the atrium of the Monastery was second in size only to that at the Vatican. Much of the cut stone from the Pre-Columbian city was reused to build the Spanish churches, monastery, and surrounding buildings.

Related Topics:
1840s - Frederick Catherwood - John Lloyd Stephens - Spanish conquest of Yucatán - 16th century - Christian - Franciscan - San Antonio de Padua - 1561 - Vatican

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Izamal remains a place of pilgrimage within Yucatán, now for the veneration of Roman Catholic saints. Several saints statues at Izamal are said to perform miracles. An early colonial era statue of the Virgin of the Immaculate Conception is particularly venerated, and is the city's patron saint.

Related Topics:
Roman Catholic - Saint - Miracle

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