Five ruins nestled in the Puuc Hills of South Yucatan form this trail… Labna, Xlapak, Sayil, Kabah and Uxmal… Uxmal being the grandest. They are unique in their architectural style which consists of heavily ornate and flamboyant facades. These sites are predominantly products of the Terminal Classic period (9th Century AD)… there is distinct Mexica influence… the heavy incorporation of snake motifs, for example. As a route, these ruins can be visited sucessively.
Heading east to west and starting with Labna…
The site is dominated by a two level palace. The structure is low and long and set with manifold pillars… exquisite decorations of a geometric order… bands and borders composed of zig-zags and criss-crosses… serpentine lines unfolding with right angles. ‘Chac masks’ are evident which recur throughout the Ruta Puuc. Chac was the Maya rain god and he is found throughout this region rendered as three dimensional ornamentation… a long curling nose curves over large lips and open mouth. Aside from Chac, the palace is adorned with various other carvings and sculptures… faces, rosettes and snakes vomitting up humanoid figures. Away from the Palace can be found a pyramid (most likely a watchtower) and an archway beset with mosaic designs and gods within niches. The colours of the structures mirror those of the surrounding earth… dry, yellow, sandy. In former times they would have been painted in startling primary tones.
The ruins of Xlapak lie a little further down the track. Here can be found a single palace adorned with triple Chac masks at the corners… motifs of circles, stars and snakes… geometric patterns and lattice work. Various paths lead into a dried out forest… heavily decimated buildings… heaps of broken masonry.
Sayil is a dispersed site… paths wind through parched folliage… decaying structures emerge root-strangled. The great Palace is set on three tiers… some grand notion with Cretan inclinations… gods set in place. El Mirador lies down the track… a large pyramid with a faded red roof comb. The path splits and turns… a fertility idol with large fist like genitalia… a sunken building beset with hieroglyphs. The southern groups lie furthest out… split by vegetation… cracked… crumbled here and there to expose corbeled vaults.
The site of Kabah is most renowned for the Codz Poop, the palace of masks. This building is covered entirely on one side by Chacs… 300 masks extending the length and breadth. Another salient feature is the ruin of a road extending as far as Uxmal. A large archway marks its commencement.
Uxmal stands the most magnificent and important amoung the Puuc settlements. Visitors are greeted by the enormous Pyramid of the Magician. Built on an oval base, myth hold that the structure was created on a single day by a dwarf who hatched from a witches egg. Opposite the pyramid stands the Nunnery Quadrangle… a large, heavily ornamented complex that may have served as a school or palace. Heading south, one arrives at the Govenor’s Palace… set upon a platform and standing nearly 100m long. Nearby lies the Grand Pyramid which stands 32m high… the interior and exterior of the crowning temple reveal carvings of birds… the site stretches far below… higher structures reaching through the canopy. In and around it all, large iguanas bask on the rocks.