Izamal: The City of Hills

Mexico has 35 Magical Cities and Izamal is  one of two in Yucatan state.  It is referred to as a "city of three cultures."  Its strong historical roots in the prehispanic era, the colonial era, and post-revolutionary era are evident.  It is also known as the "city of hills" because of the five large Mayan pyramids located there.

Important to Mayan civilization, Izamal has been a pilgrimage site since 1000 BCE.  The maim pyramid, Kinich kakmo, which I visited is a manifestation fo Itzim Na, the god of healing, resurrection, arts, writing, ad agriculture  It's located near the center of town and we took a ride in a calesa (horse drawn carriage) around it before scaling the pyramid.  That's my horse in the pink.

Construction of the convent at Izamal was begun in 1533 and completed in 1561.  It was built atop one of the city's pyramids using stones from the pyramid and was one of the first convents in the western hemisphere.  In 1562, Fray Diego de Landa burned thousands of idols and 27 manuscripts.  He destroyed all, but three of the Maya codices which were hidden.  Because of the loss of these records, it is difficult to know why Izamal was so important to the Maya.  De Landa was punished for destroying the records and spent the rest of his life trying to piece together the records he destroyed.  

I just love immersing myself in all of this history.  

In 1993, Pope John Paul II visited Izamal and the people are very proud to have been visited by him.  He called together all of the indiginous people of the Americas and delivered a speech especially for them.  The speech is posted in Spanish on the wall of a special room in the convent which also has photos of him crowning the Virgin of Izamal and the chair in which he sat.

After the Juan Pablo's visit, the people of Izamal were very proud, so proud of their city that they painted it yellow.  That's right, the whole city is yellow!  I heard a joke while there.  Something about a boracho flagging a taxi to take him home.  When the driver asked which house was his, he said the yellow one. Umm, they're all yellow..haha

I didn't wander too far from the Zocalo since I was afraid of getting lost.  After some free time, we went to the pyramid Kinich kakmo.  Now this pyramid looked pretty small compared to El Castillo at Chichen Itza or Uxmal, but it was deceiving.  We climbed up the first part and there was a big grassy area surrounding the main pyramid.  While it wasn't as tall as some I have climbed, it was definitely steep and there was nothing to hang on to.  For those of you who know me well, I am always turning my ankles and had turned the right one a few weeks before my trip and the left just a few days before, Stairs are my nemesis, especially when descending.  I decided against climbing the second part since my injured ankles were swelling a bit and still tender, but our wonderful guide climbed up and took some photos for me.

                             

Izamal is a charming and laid back city with a very nice market.  I would love to go back and stay a night or two to get to know the locals.  It would be nice to explore the side streets and the lesser known ruins.  Izamal is 72 km east of Merida, about 45 minutes on a nice highway.