Among these are its location, only about 5 km (3 mi) from the center of the city. In addition, the site is within the grounds of the beautifully preserved Hacienda San Lorenzo Oxman (see Part 7 of this series). The cenote is also on the tourist bus route coming from the ancient Maya city of Chichen Itza.
In this posting, I'll show you how to get to the cenote and take you deep inside it, all the way down to the the water's surface. I'll also explain the origin and nature of cenotes and the roles they played in the lives of people from pre-hispanic times, through the colonial period, and up to the present day.
The cenote is in the southwest corner of the hacienda (see red pointer). You will find a map and explanation of how to reach Hacienda San Lorenzo Oxman in Part 7 of this series. From the highway, you approach the hacienda along the smoothly-graded dirt road seen at the bottom center of the photo. Drive to the parking area in the upper right quadrant.
Entrance to Cenote Oxman. Notice the small sign to the right of the door. It warns you that there are 73 steps down to the bottom. Those with mobility issues should take notice. When I was there, there was no ramp for wheelchairs, but that was several years ago and things might have changed. The hours when the cenote is open are 10 AM to 5 PM. If you would like a tranquil experience, it is best to arrive in the morning because the tourist buses from Chichen Itza pull in about mid-day and disgorge a flood of visitors.
The tunnel has flat areas as well as various flights of steps. It is fairly gloomy in places. The tunnel is bright here only because of my flash. Speaking of cameras, one of my sources bemoaned the fact that he neglected to bring an underwater camera, because he found the views below the surface to be wonderful. I wasn't planning to swim, so my Nikon was just fine for my purposes. I didn't notice whether underwater cameras were available for sale at the hacienda, but the proprietor is missing a bet if he doesn't stock them. However, you can always bring your own or pick one up inexpensively in Valladolid before you come.
Mineral-filled droplets of water have created stalactites from the overhanging walls. There are many of these along the path and some are quite impressive. The whole Yucatan Peninsula is a thick, flat crust of limestone. It was created when the area was at the bottom of a shallow sea. Over millions of years, tiny creatures in the water died and their remains sank to the bottom. These gradually built up into the limestone crust. The crust is on, or just under, the surface in most places. The subsurface limestone is covered by a shallow layer of earth built up from decaying vegetation.
Stalactites are not the only thing hanging down in the cenote. Above-ground plants and trees send down roots seeking water wherever they can find it. Both the seeping water and the action of the roots tend to widen existing cracks that let in more water. This causes weaknesses in the limestone. Cenotes are underground pools whose roofs have collapsed because of these weaknesses. Scientists have found limestone sinkholes in many places around the world and have long understood how they were created. However, the presence in northern Yucatan of as many as 10,000 cenotes puzzled researchers for a long time.
The connection between the Chicxulub crater and Yucatan's cenotes. In the 1970s scientists discovered the Chicxulub crater, just off the northwest coast of Yucatan. They believe it was caused by the meteorite strike that occurred 66 million years ago, killing off the dinosaurs and much of the rest of life on earth. In the 1990s, twenty years after this discovery, NASA scientists decided to plot out the location of northern Yucatan's cenotes. An interesting pattern then emerged. Many of the cenotes are concentrated along a ring marking the trough of the Chicxulub crater. Apparently, the impact caused weakening along the edge of that trough, leading to the creation of those cenotes. (Graphic from Wikipedia)
Another view of the roots extending down from the surface. The lack of surface-level water in northern Yucatan means that cenotes have been vital to human habitation since paleo-indians first arrived in the area. In 2001, archeologists found the skeleton of a human female under the water of a cenote. They called her "Eve of Naharon" and carbon-dated her remains to 13,600 years ago. The cenotes were natural gathering places for humans seeking water and also hunting animals who were coming for a drink. In fact, the Spanish word for cenote derives from the Maya ts'ono'ot, which translates as "location with accessible water".
"Ah...at last a cool drink of water". Roots suck up water from the surface of the cenote's sparkling, clear water. The clarity of the water is caused by the filtering process. This occurs as the liquid travels down through the limestone, depositing its impurities along the way and sometimes creating stalactites. Cenotes generally contain less life than other bodies of water, but various fish have been found in them, including mojarras, mollies, guppies, catfish and small eels.
Non-sacrificed humans enjoying a swim in the cenote. A rope is suspended 27m (90ft) down from the rim to the water's surface. A very popular activity is to swing from a platform out toward the middle and drop into the water. The person on the right appears to be trying to see the bottom. Good luck with that! The water's depth is 45m (148ft). In order to keep the water clean and clear, swimmers are required to take a shower before entering. This helps prevent body lotions from polluting the water.
Two other swimmers hang onto a rope stretched across the surface as a safety measure. Both wear life vests, which are available at the hacienda. These are mandatory for anyone wishing to swim in the cenote. This might be a product of government regulations, but I'm betting the property owner is glad to enforce the rule. Reports of drowned swimmers would not be good for business.
A view from the water level up to the rim. Notice the safety barrier. It was probably erected after some careless or overly-adventurous tourist fell over the edge. That is probably not historically unusual. Scientists found the skeletons of 120 people at the bottom of another cenote. None of them showed evidence of sacrifice, so they may have just fallen in over the centuries. The opening to the sky lets in shafts of sunlight that create a serene and mystical feeling. As I mentioned before, you are more likely to enjoy this feeling in the morning, when the place is not overrun with noisy tourists and screaming children.
The entrance to the property is along the walkway that begins next to the orange-roofed structure at the top of the photo. Walk down this to the casa grande (center), then past the swimming pool. A short distance beyond it is the entrance of the tunnel leading down into the cenote. Before entering the tunnel, walk over to the barrier along the edge and take a look at the impressive depth of this sinkhole.
The price of admission, just to swim in the cenote, is $150 pesos ($7.50 USD). You also have the option of paying $250 pesos ($12.50 USD) for a package. This includes access to the cenote, a $200 peso credit ($10.00 USD) toward a meal at the on-site restaurant, and access to the swimming pool. Keep in mind that everything is "cash only," which means pesos only.
Light and easily worked, limestone has been the most plentiful building material on the Peninsula for thousands of years. Another important feature of limestone is its porosity. This means that rainwater doesn't stay on the surface for long but seeps down until it meets a level it can't penetrate. At that point, it forms underground lakes and rivers. Some cenotes are connected to each other by these rivers. Some of the underwater caverns are extensive. One has been mapped for a length of 376 km (234 miles)!
The ancient Maya began their transition from a hunter-gatherer culture to one based on agriculture around 2,500 BC. Permanent settlements appeared around 1,800 BC. Since farming requires a substantial and readily available source of water, the areas around cenotes naturally developed first. Valladolid's predecessor, the ancient city of Zaci, had twelve of these sinkholes within a relatively short distance. Two of them are within a few hundred yards of the site of Zaci's pyramid, which once stood in the middle of what is now Valladolid's Parque Principal.
While the pre-hispanic Maya viewed cenotes as important for drinking water and crops, there was also a religious dimension. They believed that cenotes were the domain of the Rain God Chaac, their most important deity. These dark and mysterious places were also seen as entrances to Xibalba (the underworld). Offerings and sacrifices, sometimes including live humans, were thrown into cenotes sagrados (sacred cenotes). These include one at Chichen Itza and another in the ceremonial center of ancient Dzibilchaltún, just north of Mérida.
When the Spanish arrived, they took note of the cenotes and built their haciendas, conventos, and other important buildings adjacent to them. No doubt this caused some hostility from the Maya, who had freely used these water sources for millennia. The Spanish were motivated by easy access to water but, like the Maya, they also had religious reasons. They were no fans of Chaac, or the other native deities, and did everything they could to stamp out what they saw as "devil worship". This included preventing offerings and sacrifices at the cenotes sagrados. It was all part of the "Spiritual Conquest".
At first, the Spanish followed the native practice of bringing water up in jugs. However, they soon constructed mechanical ways of lifting the water, using using animals or windmills for power. You saw the windmill at Hacienda San Lorenzo Oxman in the last posting. In a future posting, I will show an example of 17th century Spanish hydraulic engineering at the Convento de San Bernardino de Siena in Valladolid. There, in 1613, they built an animal-driven noria (water wheel) over another cenote named Sis-há.
Some cenotes are probably still used by Maya farmers for their water needs, primarily in remote areas. However, many cenotes in easily accessible locations are now used as tourist attractions. With the recent completion of the tourist train around the Peninsula, I expect this to increase substantially. While I hate to see pristine places overrun by hordes of tourists, I fear that is the future of Yucatan, Campeche, and Quintana Roo, the three states within the Peninsula. However, the Maya people have long struggled with poverty and under-development, so it may be that some will benefit economically.
This completes Part 8 of my Valladolid Adventures series. I hope you have enjoyed it. If so, please leave any thoughts or questions in the Comments section below, or email me directly. If you leave a question, please include your email address so that I can respond in a timely fashion.
Hasta luego, Jim
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