ACANCEH - Acancéh is a small city located near Merida. It is a very easy drive through the countryside and can be reached from several directions. The ruins are very small but quite interesting for the very large masks recently uncovered. The ruins are located within the town and can be seen from the town square. 

The site is very well known for two main reasons. One is the museum at the entrance which houses items from the history of Yucatan and artifacts from many Maya ruins in the Yucatan. It also is the home of Dzibilchaltún's most famed building "the Temple of Seven Dolls". The temple's name comes from seven clay dolls found during restoration. But, the amazing part of the building is its alignment with the sun during equinox. The sun actually bursts into the room on top the temple and lights up into a brilliant star. 

The temple was originally built around 700 A.D., but like many Maya structures this temple was built on top of an existing building. Excavation has left clear evidence of the overlaying pyramid. At the base of the temple you can clearly see the elevated sacbe which leads all the way across the site and ends near the cenote. This particular sacbe is maybe one of the best restored in all the Maya world.

IZAMAL - Izamal is a large site which lies within the town of the same name. The town is considered special because the hills (cerros) have proved to be incredibly large ruins and for the Convent which was built in the 1500's on top of what was certainly a large palace or temple. 

The site, whose original population dates from the late pre-Classic until the Spanish conquest, covers an area of about six square miles. It held power in the region between 600-800 A.D. A long sacbe paved the way between it and Aké and lesser sites. Today it is possible to tour the ruins in horse drawn carriages as the cerros are located in different parts of the city.

Its most outstanding building is known as the Kinich Kak Moo. From a platform measuring 670 by 670 feet at its base there rises a 57-foot high pyramid. This structure was consecrated as a place of worship of the Maya. No one but the priest who officiated sacrifices was allowed climb the pyramid.

MAYAPAN - Mayapán, located in western Yucatán, was one of the last great regional capitals of the Maya. And during its reign was certainly capital of most of the Yucatan. By 900 A.D. the Southern Classic sites were abandoned or in decline. The period after about 1000 A.D. is known as the Post Classic. 

In the northern region Chichen Itzá continued to flourish until about 1200. By this time new construction at Chichen Itzá ceased and the city center fell into disuse. The rise of Maypán occurs after the demise of Chichen Itzá, some time around 1250 A.D. The ruler, Kukulkán asserted his command in a very large area. After him, Mayapán was controlled by the Cocom dynasty and eventually Nachi Cocom, the last great Maya Ruler, until it was destroyed and burned in 1450 A.D. 

At its zenith, the settlement had a population of 12,000 and its buildings occupied only 2.4 square miles of land. A truly dense city. The fact that the core of the town had a protective wall around it, is an unmistakable sign of the prevailing instability of the region in those 200 years. Very few Maya cities had walls. 

Notable exceptions are Tulúm, Ek Balam and Becán. Mayapán's main buildings are small-scale copies of those in Chichén Itzá. The Castle and the Snail are obvious examples of this imitation and reduction. The ruins are in less than average state of restoration and receive few visitors each year. Much of the site is still overgrown with vegetation and grass can be found covering many of the structures.