Mexico · Tradition
Pre-Columbian sacred sites in Mexico
Explore 22 sacred sites in Mexico connected to Pre-Columbian. Compare locations on the map and find respectful cultural and visiting guidance.
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Traditions
Showing 1-22 of 22 matching sites
Archaeological Site of Mayapan
Tecoh, Yucatán, Mexico
Mayapan was the political and spiritual heart of the Maya world in the centuries before Spanish contact....
Archaeological Zone Tepozteco
Tepoztlan, Morelos, Mexico
Six hundred meters above the valley floor, on a cliff edge overlooking the town of Tepoztlan, stands a temple dedicated to Tepoztecatl, the Aztec god of pulque, fertility,...
Chichen Itza
Pisté, Yucatán, Mexico
Chichen Itza rises from the Yucatan jungle as one of the most powerful sacred sites in the Americas....
Coba
Cobá, Quintana Roo, Mexico
Coba was once one of the largest Maya cities, its white roads stretching over one hundred kilometers to connect the ancient world....
Edzna Archaeological Zone
Municipio de Campeche, Campeche, Mexico
For nearly two millennia, from 400 BCE until the Spanish arrived, Edzna commanded the Campeche lowlands....
Kabah Archaeological Zone
Santa Elena, Yucatán, Mexico
In the Puuc hills of western Yucatan, where no cenotes break the limestone and rain alone sustains life, the Maya built Kabah and covered its greatest palace with the...
Labna
Santa Elena, Yucatán, Mexico
Rising from the limestone hills of the Puuc region, Labna preserves the most elaborate ceremonial arch in all Maya territory....
Mitla Archaeological Zone
San Pablo Villa de Mitla, Oaxaca, Mexico
Mitla—from the Nahuatl Mictlan, 'place of the dead'—served as the gateway between worlds for Zapotec civilization....
Monastery of San Antonio de Padua, Izamal
Izamal, Yucatán, Mexico
In the heart of Yucatán's Yellow City, Franciscan friars built one of Mexico's largest church atriums directly atop a leveled Maya temple platform, using its own carved...
Monte Alban Archaeological Zone
Santa Cruz Xoxocotlán, Oaxaca, Mexico
Monte Alban rises 400 meters above the Valley of Oaxaca—a mountaintop that the Zapotec literally carved into a capital city beginning around 500 BCE....
Mt. Citlatepetl Orizaba
Tlachichuca, Puebla, Mexico
Citlaltepetl—Star Mountain in Nahuatl—rises 5,636 meters above sea level, the highest peak in Mexico and third highest in North America....
Mt. Iztaccihuatl
Tlalmanalco, Puebla, Mexico
Iztaccihuatl rises 5,230 meters above the Valley of Mexico, her four peaks forming the shape of a woman lying in eternal sleep—head, chest, knees, and feet draped in snow....
Mt. Popocatepetl
Atlautla, Mexico, Mexico
Popocatepetl—Smoking Mountain—is Mexico's second highest peak and one of its most active volcanoes, continuously erupting since 2005....
Museum of the Mayan Village at Dzibilchaltun
Mérida, Yucatán, Mexico
Dzibilchaltun—'the place where there is writing on the stones'—was inhabited from 1500 BCE until the Spanish Conquest, one of the longest continuously occupied sites in...
Palenque
Palenque, Chiapas, Mexico
The jungle encloses Palenque like a living wall, howler monkeys calling from the canopy as mist rises through ancient temples....
Pyramid of the Moon, Teotihuacán
San Juan Teotihuacan, Mexico, Mexico
The Pyramid of the Moon stands at the northern terminus of the Avenue of the Dead, the visual and ritual culmination of Teotihuacan's processional way....
Pyramid of the Sun, Teotihuacán
San Juan Teotihuacan, Mexico, Mexico
The Pyramid of the Sun rises like a man-made mountain from the ancient city of Teotihuacan....
Sayil Archaeological Zone
Santa Elena, Yucatán, Mexico
Sayil—Place of the Leafcutter Ants—was once home to 10,000 people in a region with no surface water....
Teotihuacan
Teotihuacán, Mexico, Mexico
We do not know who built Teotihuacan. This is the first mystery that greets visitors to what was once one of the largest cities in the ancient world....
Tulum
Tulum, Quintana Roo, Mexico
Tulum rises above turquoise waters at the edge of the Maya world, a walled city that once welcomed both trading canoes and the first light of morning....
Uxmal
Santa Elena, Yucatán, Mexico
Uxmal rises from the dry Puuc hills of Yucatan as a prayer made visible in stone. Unlike other Maya cities built near cenotes or rivers, Uxmal had no natural water source....
Yaxchilan Archaeological Zone
Ocosingo, Chiapas, Mexico
The Usumacinta River still guards Yaxchilan as it has for fifteen centuries. Reachable only by boat, this jungle-shrouded city preserves the most extraordinary Maya...
Key questions
Pre-Columbian sacred sites in Mexico questions
What is included in this Pre-Columbian guide to Mexico?
This guide includes 22 sacred places within the Pre-Columbian tradition in Mexico.
Can I view these Mexico sacred places on a map?
Yes. Switch to map view to compare their geography, then open a site page for history, visiting context, and nearby places.
Can I widen this Pre-Columbian guide?
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