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Pirámide Tepanapa
The incredible Pirámide Tepanapa looks more like a hill than a pyramid, but its still the towns big draw, and, with miles of tunnels veining the inside of the structure, its no let-down. The Zona Arqueológica comprises the excavated areas around the pyramid and the tunnels undernea
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Grutas de Balankanché
In 1959 a guide to the Chichén Itzá ruins was exploring a cave on his day off when he came upon a narrow passageway. He followed the passageway for 300m, meandering through a series of caverns. In each, perched on mounds amid scores of glistening stalactites, were hundreds of cerem
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Palenque Ruins
Ancient Palenque stands at the precise point where the first hills rise out of the Gulf coast plain, and the dense jungle covering these hills forms an evocative backdrop to Palenque’s exquisite Maya architecture. Hundreds of ruined buildings are spread over 15 sq km, but only a fa
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Zempoala Archaeological Site
The Zempoala (Cempoala) Archaeological Site is a quiet and fairly impressive site, with a lovely mountain backdrop. The monuments at the site have undergone extensive renovation works. Although this makes it easier to see what everything once was, it has erased any real sense of ro
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Dzibilchaltún
Lying about 17km due north of central Mérida, Dzibilchaltún was the longest continuously utilized Maya administrative and ceremonial city, serving the Maya from around 1500 BC until the European conquest in the 1540s. At the height of its greatness, Dzibilchaltún covered 15 sq km.
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Xochicalco
Atop a desolate plateau with views for miles around, Xochicalco is an impressive and relatively easy day trip from Cuernavaca that shouldn’t be missed. It’s large enough to make the journey worthwhile, but not so well known as to be overrun with tourists. Note that a video permit c
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Becán
The Maya word for ‘canyon’ or ‘moat’ is becán , and indeed a 2km moat snakes its way around this must-visit Maya site. Seven causeways provide access across the moat to the 12-hectare site, within which are the remains of three separate architectural complexes. A strategic crossroa
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Kabah
On entering, head right to climb the stairs of El Palacio de los Mascarones (Palace of the Masks). Standing in front of it is the Altar de los Glifos, whose immediate area is littered with many stones carved with glyphs. The palace’s facade is an amazing sight, covered in nearly 30
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Cacaxtla
The large murals at Cacxtla are on display among the ruins themselves. They evoke a real sense of history where it happened and are worth seeing before they, unfortunately, continue to fade into history. The main attraction is a natural platform, 200m long and 25m high, called the
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Avenida Madero
This stately avenue west of the Zócalo boasts a veritable catalog of architectural styles. Housed in a gorgeous neoclassical building two blocks from the square, Museo del Estanquillo contains the vast pop-culture collection amassed over the decades by DF essayist and pack rat Carl
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Templo de las Inscripciones Group
As you walk in from the entrance, passing to the south of the overgrown Templo XI , the vegetation suddenly peels away to reveal many of Palenque’s most magnificent buildings in one sublime vista. A line of temples rises in front of the jungle on your right, culminating in the Temp
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Catedral Metropolitana
An unfinished masterpiece, Xalapa’s cathedral lacks a second tower but still impresses with its scale and grandiosity. Moreover, rather than compensating for its steep hillside position, the architecture makes full use of it to inspire awe as you enter, forcing you to raise your he
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Basílica de Guadalupe
A cult developed around this site after a Christian convert named Juan Diego claimed in December 1531 that the Virgin Mary appeared before him on the Cerro del Tepeyac (Tepeyac Hill). After numerous sightings, as the story goes, the lady’s image was miraculously emblazoned on Diego
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Plaza de las Tres Culturas
So named because it symbolizes the fusion of pre-Hispanic and Spanish roots into the Mexican mestizo identity, this plaza displays the architectural legacy of three cultural facets: the Aztec pyramids of Tlatelolco, the 17th-century Spanish Templo de Santiago and the modern tower t
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Dzibanché
Though it’s a chore to get to, this site is definitely worth a visit for its secluded, semi-wild nature. Dzibanché (meaning ‘writing on wood’) was a major city extending more than 40 sq km and there are a number of excavated palaces and pyramids, though the site itself is not compl
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Zona Arqueológica
The Pirámide Tepanapa , located two blocks to the southeast of Cholula’s central plaza, looks more like a hill than a pyramid and has a domed church on top so it’s tough to miss. The town’s big drawcard is no letdown with kilometers of tunnels veining the inside of the structure. T
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Murals
In the 1920s the postrevolution Minister of Education, José Vasconcelos, commissioned talented young artists – among them Diego Rivera, David Alfaro Siqueiros and José Clemente Orozco – to decorate numerous public buildings with dramatic, large-scale murals conveying a new sense of
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Toniná
The towering ceremonial core of Toniná, overlooking a pastoral valley 14km east of Ocosingo, comprises one of the Maya world’s most imposing temple complexes. This was the city that brought mighty Palenque to its knees. The year AD 688 saw the inauguration of the Snake Skull–Jaguar
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Iglesia San José
The colonial-style Iglesia San José, built to replace the 1730 Misión San José del Cabo, faces the spacious Plaza Mijares.
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Playa Las Gaviotas
Many of Mazatláns hotels are on this pretty beach. Sheltered by picturesque islands, here the waters are generally calm and ideal for swimming and water sports.
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