The city of Tulum is surrounded on three sides by this wall, while the city’s fourth side was protected by the sea. The city’s religious and civic duties were performed within the walls, where all of the city’s palaces and temples were located, while the rest of the population lived outside the barrier. There are several breaches along the walls that are currently closed to visitors. These breaches were probably built to allow access to Mayans to the fortified interior during times of danger.
On two of the corners, on the side where the current tourist entrance is, there is a pair of towers that served as religious temples, currently called “El Torreon”. They did not serve as defensive towers. Instead, archeologist believed they were used for religious offerings, possibly sacrificial offerings. Each temple had three entrances, and an altar along the back wall. As you can see from the images, the wall has withstood the test of time.
The wall is massive; the total volume of the material equals more than 27,700 cubic yards of stone. The height varies from 10 feet to 16 feet, and has a thickness of 24 feet. The longest side of the wall is about 1,300 feet long and the other two sides about 550 feet long.
After the arrival of the Spaniards, the city of Zama went into decline, and within 70 years the city was completely abandoned. Mayans continued to visit this city in the form of pilgrimage, and it is during this time when the city began being called Tulum, which roughly translates to wall. The pilgrimage to this site continued unto modern times, until it was no longer possible due to the enormous amount of tourism to the site.
