Izamal

Izamal is a small city in the Mexican state of Yucatán, 72 km (about 40 miles) east of state capital Mérida. Izamal was continuously occupied throughout most of Mesoamerican chronology; in 2000, the city's estimated population was 15,000 people. Izamal is known in Yucatán as "The Yellow City" (most of its buildings are painted yellow) and "The City of Hills" (though most of the "hills" are probably the remains of ancient temple pyramids). Izamal was an important archaeological site of the Pre-Columbian Maya civilization. It is probably the biggest city of the Northern Yucatec Plains, covering a minimal urban extension of 53 square kilometers. Its monumental buildings exceed 1,000,000 cubic meters of constructive volume and at least two...