Introduction

Picture this: you're twelve meters above the turquoise Caribbean Sea, standing on the edge of a cliff where an entire civilization made its final architectural stand. Welcome to Tulum—one of Mexico's most breathtaking archaeological sites.

Remarkably, this place remained alive and thriving for nearly seventy years after Spanish contact—far longer than most Maya cities. When Spanish explorer Juan de Grijalva sailed past on May 8th, 1518, his crew couldn't believe their eyes. The ship's chaplain wrote that they'd spotted "a city so large that Seville could not be better or greater"—comparing what he saw to one of Europe's grandest cities. That high tower he described? It's likely the impressive structure you'll see shortly.