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Eldar Kadymov | all galleries >> Galleries >> Viva Mexico ! > Pyramid of Magician, Uxmal
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24-OCT-2009

Pyramid of Magician, Uxmal

Temperature; +37.5C Wind; 2.5 m/sec Rain; None

Uxmal (Yucatec Maya: Óoxmáal) is a large pre-Columbian ruined city of the Maya civilization in the state of Yucatán, Mexico. The place name is Pre-Columbian and it is usually assumed to be an archaic Maya language phrase meaning "Built Three Times". The city's dates of occupation are unknown and the estimated population (about 25,000 people) is at present only a very rough guess. Most of the architecture visible today was built between about 700 and 1100.

Maya chronicles say that Uxmal was founded about 500 A.D. by Hun Uitzil Chac Tutul Xiu. For generations Uxmal was ruled over by the Xiu family, was the most powerful site in western Yucatan, and for a while in alliance with Chichen Itza dominated all of the northern Maya area. Sometime after about 1200 no new major construction seems to have been made at Uxmal, possibly related to the fall of Uxmal's ally Chichen Itza and the shift of power in Yucatan to Mayapan. The Xiu moved their capital to Maní, and the population of Uxmal declined.

After the Spanish conquest of Yucatán (in which the Xiu allied themselves with the Spanish), early colonial documents suggest that Uxmal was still an inhabited place of some importance into the 1550s, but no Spanish town was built here and Uxmal was soon after largely abandoned.

Nikon D300
1/2500s f/6.3 at 26.0mm iso250 full exif

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Guest 18-Oct-2010 06:32
excellent colors, being a canon guy myself ! I must admit these warm nikon colors are splendid , ofcourse only brought by an excellent editor such as yourself
Dan Greenberg12-Jun-2010 15:36
Fantastic image of this! Great color, light and texture. Very compelling. ~V~
Eldar Kadymov05-Apr-2010 22:31
You bet they were aliens, predator's breed to be exact...
Mattias Backström05-Apr-2010 13:37
Wow, just imagine building something like that without using CAD programs to figure it all out first. Impressive, in so many ways. So, do you think the aliens built these?
Steve Morris19-Feb-2010 18:03
Beautifuil photograph with the saturated blue sky and amazing architecture!BV
Eldar Kadymov11-Feb-2010 17:56
This was the only pyramid we didn't climbed on in Mexico, as it wasn't allowed to get to the top. The worst was El Castillio in Chichen Itza where I had goose skin when looked down from the top, LOL
FrankB11-Feb-2010 11:27
amazing and awesome structure!...I get dizzy just thinking about climbing those 'steps'...wow...V
Michael Shpuntov08-Feb-2010 23:53
Very nice capture. Well seen. Vote
lou_rozensteins08-Feb-2010 21:37
Impressive structure. Well done.