Mayan Ruins en Mexico

I have always been intrigued by pyramids and other historical ruins from both an educational and a spiritual aspect. Words couldn´t express the feelings I felt when I stood at the foot of the majestic Egyptian pyramids.  Now that I am in Mexico I am amazed by the Mayans and the Aztecs.  They built their pyramids to worship their gods not to hide their wealth or themselmes.  Are these ruins that much different than the majestic churches that have been built over the centuries?  They created places of worship, markets, and cities that have lasted for centuries.  Originally I had hoped to visit all the ruins in Mexico but then the more I researched the more ruins I found and to be honset there isn´t enough time or money to visit all of them.  This is one of the things I really admire about Mexico, their sense of history.  Yes, the Spanish did try to convert all of the indigenous people but many held on strong to their beliefs and if they did convert they combined a lot of their customs with christianity.  We just don´t have that in the US.  There are some native historical ruins scattered around the US, especially in the Southwest but nothing on this level.  

I could go on for hours on the travesty that was done to the native people in the Americas but instead I will focus on the beauty and the history that still exists here in Mexico.

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I visited Teotihuacan near Mexico City with Tiara and her fiance (now husband) Pete.  These ruins are Aztec which were the indigenous people who lived in Central Mexico.  The photos above are of Mayan pyramids who lived in Southern Mexico (Quintana Roo, Yucatan y Chiapas) and Central America.  I believe the biggest Mayan pyramid is actually located in Guatemala.   To be honest at this point I don´t know a lot about either except that the Mayans have a longer history, there is some evidence to say that they have been around for 3000 years while the Aztecs were only around in the 14th, 15th and 16th centuries.  I hope to learn more about the Aztecs and the Mayans.

There are few ruins actually on the coasts, I am guessing because it would be hard to protect.  There were several ruins on the islands I visited but even those were located more in the center of the island vs the coast.  Tulum is so far the only exception but I think it is because it was built on more of a cliff.  This give more of a vantage point to see people as they approached via the ocean.  The ruins here though showed that this was more of a city than a place to worship.  It had plenty of temples but homes and offices too and since it was close to the ocean it would help with trade.  Researches found traces of materials from far away places.  Tulum was very interesting to visit because of its location, size and the wildlife.  There were animals all over the place!  Although there were many tour groups these ruins were more tranquila than the other because it was more spread out and didn´t have one main point of focus.