El Palacio - Tulum, Mexico
Posted by: 
denben
N 20° 12.915 W 087° 25.756
16Q E 455157 N 2235359
El Palacio (English: The Great Palace) 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: WMY462
Location: Quintana Roo, Mexico
Date Posted: 04/17/2018
Views: 6
The Great Palace is located north of the structure 24, and is separated by a patio which is a small platform that originally had four access. The most important access is on the west side and communicates with the main street of Tulum.
The main facade has a portico with six entrances formed by four columns and a pilaster. The building has a total of 13 entrances. It is the widest structure in Tulum, and was built without the help of interior columns. It is very probable that the main facade was adorned with stucco figures sheltered by small individual niches. Today, only one of these sculptures remains above the central entrance that communicates with the sanctuary. It is the preponderant divinity at Tulum: the descending God.
The information panel says:
"The Palace of the Great Lord - This is one of the buildings where the most important inhabitants of Tulum lived. It consists of several large rooms that were covered with flat roofs supported by columns, which supported crossed wooden beams and a mixture of gravel, limestone powder and sand, known as "calcrete".
It has benches along the walls, which were used as seats and probably beds. In the back is a sanctuary where the family performed their religious ceremonies.
Archaeologists call this type of construction "Palace" because it was where the so-called Halach Uinic or "Great Lord" and his family lived."
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