Tulum and the Caribbean

Tulum was one of the very few Maya cities set directly on the coast, and one of a small number ringed by a defensive wall. Its modern name is simply the Yucatec Maya word for "wall" or "fence," a nod to the barrier that once enclosed it on three sides. On the fourth side, the wall was hardly needed: the limestone bluff seen here dropped straight to the Caribbean, and the sea itself served as the city's defense. The clifftop temples, El Castillo at right and the smaller Temple of the Wind God at left, guarded the approach from the water.