El Templo de las Pinturas - Tulum, Mexico
Posted by: 
denben
N 20° 12.887 W 087° 25.779
16Q E 455117 N 2235307
El Templo de las Pinturas (English: The Templo of the Paintings or The Temple of the Frescoes) is located in Tulum, the site of a pre-Columbian Mayan fortified town serving as a major port for Cobá, in the Mexican state of Quintana Roo.
Waymark Code: WMY44C
Location: Quintana Roo, Mexico
Date Posted: 04/16/2018
Views: 2
"Among the more spectacular buildings here is the Temple of the Frescoes that included a lower gallery and a smaller second story gallery. The Temple of the Frescoes was used as an observatory for tracking the movements of the sun. Niched figurines of the Maya “diving god” or Venus deity decorate the facade of the temple. This “diving god” is also depicted in the Temple of the Diving God in the central precinct of the site. Above the entrance in the western wall a stucco figure of the “diving god” is still preserved, giving the temple its name. A mural can still be seen on the eastern wall that resembles that of a style that originated in highland Mexico, called the Mixteca-Puebla style, though visitors are no longer permitted to enter." (
visit link)
The information panel says:
"The Temple of the Paintings - This is the one that retains the most decorative elements of any in Tulum. It has two levels; the bottom consists of two temples, one within another, in which the decoration is concentrated.
The façade of the inner temple is decorated with murals and the outside with stucco figures in relief: masks on the corners, sculptures in three niches of the façade, the center of which is a representation of the descending god and human figures in ties, on the frieze. The upper level temple is very simple; its decoration is handprints in red.
The pigments were obtained in different ways. The red and black were made from soil and minerals, while others, such as blue and green, were obtained from certain plants."