Dzibilchaltún

The site has been continuously occupied for thousands of years. Its most famous structure is the Temple Of The Seven Dolls (El Templo de las Siete Muñecas), so named because of seven small effigies found at the site when the temple was discovered under the ruins of a later temple pyramid by archaeologists in the 1950s. On the spring equinox the sun rises so that it shines directly through one window of the temple and out the other. The temple is connected to the rest of the site by a long sacbé. The other major feature of Dzibilchaltún is its cenote, which is used as a swimming hole by local residents year round; it is the first stop on the Ruta de los Cenotes. Also on the site are the ruins of a 16th-century Spanish church, as well as a museum displaying Mayan artifacts from the site and the region.

• museum
• history
• family

Getting there

15km N of Mérida

Hours

Daily 08:00-17:00 (site), Tue-Sun 09:00-16:00 (museum)

Price

M$68 (adults), M$39 (Mexican adults, non-Mexican children under 12)

Website

inah.gob.mx (opens in a new tab)