Ruins in the Riviera MayaIn the Mayan language, Tulum was called Zama, meaning “dawn,” an appropriate name given its eastern location. It seems “Tulum” is the name given to the site by explorers Stephens and Catherwood in 1841.
People Also Ask
Tulum was one of the last cities built and inhabited by the Maya and achieved its greatest prominence between the 13th and 15th centuries. Maya continued to occupy Tulum for about 70 years after the Spanish began occupying Mexico, but the city was abandoned by the end of the 16th century.
Tulum has many beautiful traces of Mayan culture and history, much like the rest of the Yucatán Peninsula and Quintana Roo. Visiting Tulum is worth it simply for the experience of seeing the historical Tulum Ruins in person.
Tulum ruins are located 130 km south of Cancun and is considered by many as the most beautiful of the Mayan Ruins sites around Cancun, is small but exquisitely poised on the fifteen-meter-high cliffs above the azure waters of the Caribbean Sea.
Tulum means “wall” in Yucatec Maya, a reference to the city's fortifications; 19th-century explorers used the name and it stuck. Originally, the city was called Zamá, or “dawn,” because it faced east.
There are some things you have to avoid in Tulum… Since tons of people visit the Yucatan Peninsula, it can be a spot where tourists unknowingly participate in tourist traps, environmental crises, and exploitation of locals.
Tulum ruins are perched on 12 metre high cliffs facing the Caribbean Sea. It is the 3rd most visited site in Mexico and the most visited spot in the state of Quintana Roo. The site was inhabited as early as the 6th century. Tulum is a rare city built by the Mayans because it is one of the few walled cities.
Still, experts agree tourists are not the preferred target. “Most tourists will never meet the cartels. In other words, violence is often generic. The violence tourists face is much more local,” Hope said.