Wow, crazy...I only blog 4 times in 2 weeks, then suddenly I have time to blog twice in one day!
We don't want to leave the Yucatan until after the kids fly away, and we didn't want to hang around Chichen Itza, so we headed an hour west to a little town called Izamal. Izamal is about another hour east of Merida.
It's a strange little town, all painted yellow to impress the pope when he visited in 1993, and built atop an ancient Mayan city.
The church is actually built on top of a Mayan Temple.
" In 1552 The Roman Catholic Church decided to put an end to the use of the Izamal Pyramid being a shrine to the Mayan Gods, Itzamma and Ix Chel, who were Gods of healing. This was because the Mayans were worshiping their own Gods and it greatly upset the ruling Catholic Authorities.
So they simply destroyed almost all of this great pyramid of Kinich Kak Mo and used the blocks from the pyramid to build a monastery in Izamal and from there they could impose their religion upon the people. "
More on Izamal:
More on Izamal:
http://sacredsites.com/americas/mexico/monastery_izamal.html
200 meters long, by 180 meters wide, 34 meters high!
It surprises me that the site has not been fully excavated, nor restored. It is the very center of the town, and the little bit of tourism they get is obviously a main source of income.
You can see the church easily from the 2nd and 3rd levels.
The wind was crazy strong at the top.
All the houses and shops throughout town are yellow.
The church.
The custodian is pointing out the foundations of the Mayan Temple ruins to me.
No respect.
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