Izamal Part 1: The massive Kinich Kakmó Pyramid

Aerial vew of the pyramid Kinich Kakmó pyramid in the Yucatan city of Izamal. The 700,000 cubic meter volume of the platform and pyramid make it one of the largest ancient structures in Mexico. The pyramid sits on the northern end of a huge rectangular platform. It can be accessed by a broad staircase visible just below the pyramid. When we visited the site, we climbed a similar staircase located on the south end of the platform (upper left). There are four more small staircases, two on the east side and two on the west. In ancient times, there would have been no vegetation on top of either the platform or pyramid. 

This posting begins a multi-part series on Izamal. In my first two postings, I will cover the two largest ancient structures. These, and a handful of others, largely survived the dismantlement that occurred during the 16th century Spanish Conquest of Yucatan. This was not just random vandalism by the Spanish, but the result of deliberate policies. The civil authorities used materials from the great pyramids and palaces to build their own palaces and churches. The religious authorities, led by the Franciscan Order, carried out what came to be called the Spiritual Conquest, aimed at eradicating any vestige of the ancient religions. 

(Photo from https://akumalnow.com/10-most-amazing-pyramids-in-the-yucatan/)

Overview

Map of modern Izamal. North is at the top of the map. The six surviving ancient structures are dark gray, outlined in blue. Kinich Kakmó is the northern-most and largest of these. It can be found in the "V" formed by Calle 26A and Calle 30, where they converge near the plaza at the center of the city. Izamal has been called the "City of Hills" because the six ancient structures stand out in an otherwise flat landscape.

Izamal is located between the cities of Merida and Valladolid, but slightly closer to Mérida. If you are coming from Mérida, travel east on Carretera Costera del Golfo (Highway 180) to Kantunil. Then take the Carretera Kantunil-Izamal (#53) north to Izamal. From Valladolid, go west on the 180D (toll road) to Kantunil and then up #53 to Izamal. For an interactive Google map of this area, click here.

Etching of the stucco mask of Kinich Ahau, by Frederick Catherwood. This mask of Kinich Ahau, the Sun God, once decorated the platform wall of the Kab-ul pyramid. The mask disappeared sometime after 1862, when the only surviving photo of it was taken. The Kab-ul ("Mighty Hand") structure was largely dismantled in colonial times, but some portions have survived. Catherwood created this etching in 1841, when he and the explorer John Lloyd Stephens were visiting Yucatan's Maya ruins. Frederick Catherwood was a remarkable artist whose highly detailed work closely matches surviving Maya structures.

John Lloyd Stephens described the Kab-ul platform as "perhaps two hundred feet long and thirty high...with vast sides covered from one end to the other with colossal ornaments in stucco, most of which had fallen, but among the fragments is the gigantic head represented. It is seven feet eight inches in height and  seven feet in width. The groundwork is of  projecting stones, which are covered with stucco. In sternness and harshness of expression, it reminded us of the idols of Copan, and its colossal proportions, with the corresponding dimensions of the mound, gave an unusual impression of grandeur."

Image of the sun, surrounded by its rays. One of the several manifestations of Kinich Ahau  was Kinich Kakmó ("Macaw, with the eyes of the Sun"). The immense platform and pyramid that bear his name were constructed to revere him. He is often portrayed as a man with flaming eyes and the head of a brightly colored macaw (parrot) who carried a torch in each hand to bring the sun's rays to the earth. The Maya believed that the sun ruled over health. During times of plague, they would leave offerings for the fiery-eyed macaw god. 

Kinich Kakmó was also related to Itzamná, the God of the Sky and Order, whom the Maya credited with the introduction of writing, the calendar system, agriculture, and medicine. These three gods were all deities of the highest importance, making Izamal one of the preeminent Maya ceremonial centers in ancient Yucatan. Pilgrims brought offerings to Izamal in pre-hispanic times and continue to do so today. It was the equivalent of Cholula, the great ceremonial and pilgrimage site in the Valley of Mexico, which also contains a huge pyramid that has attracted pilgrims for centuries. 

The Great Platform of Kinich Kakmó

 

A father shepherds his two sons up the staircase on the southern end of the platform. The staircase has five landings with several steps to each. The platform itself forms an immense rectangle, measuring 200m (656ft) long and 180m (590ft) wide and covering over 8,000 square meters (over 2 acres). The platform had to be built by hand, with no metal tools, no draft animals, and no use of the wheel. And, of course, prior to the first stone or basket of earth being placed, the ground had to be cleared and leveled. Think about the amount of work that took, even before construction began on the pyramid at its top!

View to the east (right), part way up the staircase of the platform. As you can see, the platform was constructed as a series of stepped levels. The man perched on one of the levels provides a sense of proportion. At Izamal's peak in the Classic Era, there were at least twelve large pyramid-temples Only six still exist. Archeologists believe that the town was founded around 700 BC and it has been continuously occupied ever since. 

Construction of these immense monuments began about 200 AD and continued until about 600 AD, an era known as the Classic. Then Izamal began a slow decline that lasted until 900 AD, when there was another burst of activity. This continued until about 1100 AD, when the decline resumed. This period is known as the Terminal Classic, during which, Chichen Itza (about 60 km to the east) reached its peak and Izamal fell under its influence. However, this influence ended in the middle of the 15th Century (the Late Post Classic). An intriguing incident occurred during this period that may, or may not, be historically accurate. 

As the story goes, there was an intense rivalry between Chichen Itza and its rival Mayapan, which was ruled by a man named Hunac Ceel. He tricked Chichen Itza's ruler Chac Xib Chac into abducting the bride of the ruler of Izamal (who is unnamed in the story). Izamal struck back and drove out Chac Xib Chac, hastening the fall and abandonment of Chichen Itza. In the end this simply traded Chichen Itza's dominance over Izamal for that of Mayapan. By the time the Spanish arrived in the 1540s, Izamal was still populated but was more important as a pilgrimage site than as a political or economic power.

View toward the north down the length of the great platform's top level. In the distance is the ten-level pyramid seen in the first photo. A circular ceremonial fire pit is in the foreground. I have not been able to determine the surface area of the top of the platform, but it is somewhat smaller than the dimensions of the base because the sides of the platform all slope inward. In spite of that, this is a huge area capable of containing gatherings of great size, which was clearly the intent of its builders. The groves of trees seen on either side of the pyramid would not have existed in pre-hispanic times.

The platform was built over a cave that held great significance to the Maya. The limestone caves of northern Yucatan were often important sources of water in an area with almost no above-ground rivers or lakes. They were considered to be abodes of Chaac, the Rain God. Caves were also thought to be entrances to Xibalba (the underworld), which had nine levels and was ruled by its own set of gods. According to the Maya myth of the Hero Twins, they entered Xibalba through a cave and outwitted the Lords of the Underworld. In the process they introduced the first humans to maiz (corn) and taught them how to grow it.

The Kinich Kakmó Pyramid

View of the pyramid's front from its left (west) side. Carole can be seen walking around the base of the pyramid. The tiny figure sitting at the top of the staircase helps provide a sense of scale. There are some indications that a structure of wood and other perishable materials once stood at the pyramid's top level. If that structure was still in existence when the Franciscan friars arrived, it would have quickly been destroyed by them. The Franciscans did everything they could to suppress native religious beliefs and eradicate their temples and other monuments, believing them to be places for "devil worship".

A man lifts his young son up to the fourth terraced level of the pyramid. This shot was taken from the second of the pyramid's ten levels. The staircase up to this landing is in good shape, but from here on it is pretty rough, as you see on the right side of the photo. Notice how the terraces' walls begin to curve beyond the man and his son. The corners of the pyramid are curved rather than at right-angles, reflecting the Puuc style of architecture. That style is found at a number of northern Yucatan's ancient sites, including Uxmal, located   approximately 150km (93mi) to the west of Izamal.

The pyramid of Kinich Kakmó from the right front. The great platform spreads out in front and to both sides of the pyramid. The terraces of each level would have provided excellent "stadium seating" to watch the vast ceremonial activities taking place on the platform's surface. Such seating would almost certainly have been reserved for elites such as the ruling family, nobility, warriors, and priests. Commoners would probably have had to stand around the perimeter of the platform. 

Carole walks around the back side of the pyramid. As you can see, this part of the back side is almost completely un-excavated and is still covered with vegetation. While a considerable amount of archeological work has been done on Kinich Kakmó and other ruins at Izamal, there is much left to do. Unlike other sites in Yucatan and elsewhere in Mexico that we have visited, I could find little in the way of ancient artifacts in Izamal's museums. 

Most of what archeologists have found over the years is kept in the Mérida's Maya Museum of Anthropology, which Carole and I visited a number of years ago. Another possible repository is the Gran Museo del Mundo Maya ("Great Museum of the Maya World"), also in Mérida, but which did not exist when we were there. Among the artifacts which have been unearthed at Izamal are obsidian, stone, and bone tools, ceramics, and stucco decorations from the temples.

View toward the west along one of the terraces on the backside of the pyramid. Below this terrace is the staircase seen in the first photo. You can also see one of the modern roads that surround the great platform. An ancient Maya road was called a sacbe ("white road"). These amazingly well-engineered raised roads were made of limestone and surfaced with a naturally-occurring powdered limestone called sascab. The brilliantly white surface of a sacbe could easily be traveled by night, making for a much cooler journey during the hot season. 

One sacbe passed through Izamal, running from Ti'ho (modern Mérida in northwestern Yucatan) to the Caribbean coast just north of Cozumel. The distance spanned approximately 300km (186mi). Other sacbeob extended out from Izamal to outlying towns and cities.The purposes of these roads included trade, political control, and fast movement by military forces. Travel on the hard, relatively smooth surface of an elevated sacbe was vastly superior to trudging along rough trails and through swamps. Sacbeob were built by hand, with tools of stone, wood, and bone, and without the use of draft animals or the wheel.

Top of the pyramid

 

The pyramid's top level provides an expansive view in all directions. Here, you are looking south, toward the center of both the ancient city and the modern town. The pyramid's main staircase extends down from here. The first section is quite rough and reaches down to where the four people are sitting. From there the rebuilt stairs on the lower section provide more stable footing. In the distance, near the top center of the photo, you can see the yellow structures of the 16th century Convento de San Antonio de Padua, the largest and most important Franciscan convent in Yucatan. I will show it in a future posting. 

Remains of a firepit on the pyramid's top level. Ceremonial fires were an important part of pre-hispanic religious rituals. In ancient times, there was a temple at the top level where ritual offerings, including copal (tree resin) incense, would have been consumed by fires. Other than copal, we know little about the other offerings that were made in ancient times. 

Today's pilgrims still burn copal and the firepit above was probably built for the use of modern Maya shamanic practitioners. Copal is burned to purify and send prayers upward with the smoke. Candles in specific colors are set up around the perimeter of the fire. The color of each candle relates to one of the Four Cardinal Directions. Sugar and panela are offered to bring harmony and favorable outcomes. Flowers, herbs, tobacco, and cacao are burnt to show gratitude.

A young girl gingerly picks her way down the upper portion of the staircase. It is very important to take care while ascending or descending Mexico's ancient structures. Climbing down can be especially tricky. Gravity works against you and falls have caused serious injuries or even death. 

There were no handholds or safety ropes on Izamal's pyramids when we visited several years ago, but this may have changed. Due to the number of accidental falls, Mexican authorities have begun to install safety measures like ropes or wooden stairways at many popular pyramid sites. In some locations, climbing has been entirely forbidden.

This completes Part 1 of my series on Izamal. 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 remember to include your email address so that I may respond in a timely manner.

Hasta luego, Jim

Ajijic's murals Part 12 of 12: Murals of the Present and Past

 

A woman surrounded by animals gives a shove to a mult-colored VW.  This mural can be found on Calle Ocampo near its northwest corner with Calle Colon. There is no house number, but a sign saying El Corozonito (The Little Heart) hangs at the front door. There is a lot going on in this mural. A fanciful bird flies just in front of the woman's face and in front of the bird, two Ojos de Dios (God's Eyes) hang down. Behind her head, a lizard-like creature stands. On the right, a tall thin monkey with a long curled tail gestures with its right arm. At the bottom right, a jaguar with an arched back glowers from the corner. 

This posting finishes my series on the murals of Ajijic. In this one, I will include art works that are randomly scattered around the pueblo, as well as some that no longer exist. Other murals seen here were replaced by newer ones, including some I have previously shown. This twelve-part series has drawn many favorable comments and I have enjoyed preparing and presenting it. Thanks to the many people who have responded! There was no date or signature on the mural above.

Murals of Calle Ocampo/Constitución

A group of nude women dances in the courtyard of the house at #12 Calle Ocampo. The figures dance wildly amid pouring rain. The midsections of many of them are globes, perhaps suggesting that the human world begins in a female womb. The house is on the south side of the street, a few doors west of the corner with Calle Colon. Since it is a private home, permission would have to be asked to view it. 

According to an old friend who sent me the photo, the mural is the work of Juan Campo. He painted it when he lived in the house during the 1990s. The mural was dedicated to his girlfriend who died of cancer. Campo created a number of murals in the Ajijic area in the 90s. My friend also lived here for a number of years until she finally sold it after she moved to Chapala.

The insouciant expression of this porker caught my attention. The pig is surrounded on three sides by large blue crystals and wears a necklace with a pendant. Above the pig's head, hummingbirds feed on what appears to be grape vines. The mural is located on the front of a art gallery at #16 Constitución on the south side of the street. This is the same street as Ocampo, but it picks up a new name east of the intersection with Calle Colon. The mural is fun but its meaning is obscure. The artist who painted this mural is Noel Chavez. He is related to Efren Gonzalez, who has also appeared in this blog several times.

Vanished murals of Artist's Alley and Calle Castellanos

The assassination of Luis Donaldo Colosio Murrieta. This and the next two murals once appeared on the south wall of Artist's Alley, the pedestrian pathway that leads from Calle Castellanos to Ajijic Plaza. They have since been covered over by murals featured in Part 3 of this series. Colosio was the 1994 presidential candidate of Mexico's ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI). The PRI governed the nation from its founding in 1929 to 2000. Colosio was campaigning in Tijuana when he was shot on March 23, 1994. In the scene above, he is about to be assassinated with a pistol aimed by a man standing in the shadows. 

Mario Aburto Martinez, the purported assassin, was arrested immediately, confessed, and was sentenced to 45 years in prison. The country was immediately plunged into a political crisis. The PRI replaced Colosio with Ernesto Zedillo, who went on to win the 1994 presidential election. Almost immediately after the assassination, rumors began circulating that the killing was the result of an internal battle within the PRI. Colosio was campaigning as a reformer and his election might have led to widespread changes that powerful interests viewed as threatening. 

Colosio lies at the feet of a sinister-looking group as a dog snarls at his corpse. Seated around the table from left to right are Carlos Salinas de Gotari, two unidentified men, and a Catholic cardinal. Salinas was President of Mexico when Colosio was assassinated. With their rather casual stance and expressions, the artist appears to be suggesting that the men were not unhappy with Colosio's demise. The unstated suggestion is that they may have been behind it, as many in Mexico have believed ever since. However, only the lone gunman was prosecuted in 1994. Then, thirty years later, came a bombshell announcement.

On November 8, 2025, a second person was arrested. Jorge Antonio Sánchez Ortega was an intelligence officer who had been sent to Tijuana to "monitor" the Colosio rally. He had been arrested at the scene because he had Colosio's blood on his clothes. Also, gunpowder residue was found on his hands. His intelligence boss arranged for his quick release and removal from Tijuana. Aburto, who confessed to the assassination, claims that is was the result of torture and threats to his family. In July, 2026, an appeals court ordered Sánchez Ortega's release because the statute of limitations for the murder had expired.

The third part of the mural shows workers breaking their chains and rising up.  This part of the mural was also located in Artist's Alley, next to the assassination panels. It is similar to other Mexican murals with political themes that I have photographed. Mexico's Revolution began in 1910, about seven years before the Russian Revolution. It was a time of radical change in various parts of the world and the plight of the working classes was highlighted in this kind of art. Great Mexican muralists like Diego Rivera, José Clemente Orozco, and David Alfaro Siqueiros all had political themes similar to this one.

Mural of a seated Maya noble painting the head of a statue. At his feet is a smaller figure with the face of a toothy lizard. The lizard-person also works on a painting. This appears to be based on images from ancient Maya codices and murals. Seated and cross-legged figures are  typical in Maya art and those ancient scenes are usually surrounded by hieroglyphs as this one is. At one time, this and the mural that follows both appeared on Calle Castellanos near its corner with Calle Guadalupe Victorio. In recent years, other murals have supplanted them.

A jaguar speaks while holding an object in its paw. This mural also closely imitates ancient Maya art. The symbols emerging from the big cat's mouth are how Maya artists once indicated speech. Night-hunting jaguars were revered in pre-hispanic times because they were believed to move freely between the worlds of the living and the dead. Since they are powerful hunters, their image was adopted by warriors and royalty, who often dressed in jaguar pelts. The four-petal flowers on the jaguar's body are symbols of the Four Cardinal Directions. Each holy direction has its own color and is represented by its own god.

Murals on the Malecon

A blue nude enjoys the sun's rays.  She is surrounded by the waving leaves of what appear to be aquatic plants. This and the next mural can both be found at the skateboard park on the Ajijic Malecon along Lago de Chapala. A malecon is an esplanade along a body of water like a lake, river, seashore. The skateboard park was designated as an area where graffiti artists could spraypaint to their hearts' delight. They seem to have taken full advantage of the opportunity, since there are numerous other art works in this area. These particular images may have been replaced by others since I took this photo.

Two more nudes luxuriate among the vegetation. Given that this skateboard ramp sees a lot of use, I would not be surprised if this mural has been repainted or replaced since I took these shots. In photographing Mexico's street art, I have noticed that nudity and explicit violence are often included. Sometimes these subjects appear at sites that would seem very unusual to many people in the United States. Local sites include the front walls of elementary schools, as well as skateboard parks like this one. Mexicans don't seem to have the same hang-ups about these subjects as do many folks who live north of the border.

The Carretera Murals

Stampeding carousel horses on Ajijic's Carretera. Mexicans seem to love carousels and particularly carousel horses. I have encountered paintings and carvings of such horses in numerous places other than carousels. Often, they can be found hanging on the walls of restaurants, businesses, or homes. Just another of Mexico's charming quirks, I guess. This is one panel of a lengthy mural along the bike path on the north side of the Carretera near its intersection with Calle Juan Alvarez. The Carretera is the single asphalt-paved road in Ajijic. All the rest in the pueblo are paved with cobblestones. 

Murals of Colonia San Sebastian

This mural is a work in progress. Each January 20, the people of the Barrio de San Sebasian throw a big party to honor the martyrdom of the saint for which the barrio is  (neighborhood) is named. The parade at the Fiesta de San Sebastian begins and ends at the corner of Calle Castellanos and Calle Emiliano Zapata, where the mural is located.

In the mural, San Sebastian is shown on the left, fastened to a tree and punctured by multiple arrows. There is also a whole lot more going on, as is usual with Ajijic's murals. In this and the next three photos, you will find not only the martyrdom, but a group of Sayacos (who represent a different tradition), the sun and moon duality (another, even more ancient ancient tradition), and the images of some of the real people who live in the barrio.  

Sayacos join the parade. Two of them stand at the right end while others are partly concealed behind the men carrying trays of food. The Sayaco tradition is unique to the pueblo of Ajijic and can be traced back to pre-hispanic legends. Their name comes from the Nahuatl word xayactl, which means "mask". The female figures (Sayacas) are actually men in dresses using inflated balloons to imitate female breasts. Sayacos are associated with the Carnaval season, which begins on January 6 and ends on February 10. This probably explains why they appear in this mural.

This section of the mural shows the sun and moon as well as men bearing trays of food.

The juxtaposition of the two celestial bodies harks back to the ancient pre-hispanic concept of duality. The ancient people believed that everything has its opposite: day (the sun) vs night (the moon), life vs death, good vs evil, etc. Nothing can be completely understood in the absence of its opposite. Ometeotl ("Dual God") was the pre-eminent god and contained both male and female aspects. 

Only three of the ten marching men who carry the food platters have human faces. One of them, wearing a blue hat, can be seen above. The three faces are images of real people who live in the barrio. When I took the shot, the figures with blank faces had not yet been filled in by the artist. If you visit this mural, they may all be complete by now.

An elderly couple stands at the left end of the mural. Between them and San Sebastian is an horno (oven). Igloo-shaped hornos are the traditional Mexican way to bake bread, cookies, and other tasty items. When I saw this couple and their oven, I immediately recognized them. Their home is right around the corner on Emiliano Zapata. and the firewood-heated horno is in their back room. In years past, I sometimes stopped by their little bakery to buy a loaf of their scrumptious fresh bread. As you can see, the artist had also not completed this part of the mural when I photographed it.

Part 12 is the last of my series on Ajijic's murals. I hope you have enjoyed this one, as well as the rest of the series. If so, please leave any thoughts or questions in the Comments section below or email me directly. If you leave a question, please remember to include your email address so that I may respond in a timely manner.

Hasta luego, Jim