Tulum Ruins History

Zamá — City of Dawn

Long before the name "Tulum" was applied to this clifftop city, the Maya called it Zamá — meaning "dawn" or "city of the rising sun" in Yucatec Maya. The name was fitting: the city faces due east, and El Castillo temple was positioned so the first light of every sunrise would stream through its windows, illuminating the interior for religious ceremonies.

The city was established during the Late Postclassic period, around 1200–1300 CE, though some structures may date to an earlier Classic period stela found on site bearing a date of 564 CE — likely moved there from elsewhere. Most of the major structures visitors see today were built between 1200 and 1450 CE.

Tulum was uniquely situated among Mayan cities. Its position on a clifftop above the sea made it naturally defensible, while the small cove and beach at the cliff's base allowed trading canoes to dock. This dual advantage — defensible inland and accessible by sea — made Tulum one of the most important ports in Mesoamerica during its peak.

What was traded at Tulum?

Tulum's economy was built on seaborne trade. The city served as a hub where goods from across Mesoamerica passed through — jade and obsidian from Guatemala, turquoise from central Mexico, copper bells from western Mexico, cacao from Belize, and cotton textiles from throughout the Yucatán Peninsula. Tulum also exported honey, which the Maya of the Yucatán were famous for producing.

The site's location marked a break in the barrier reef just offshore — a natural passage for trading canoes. El Castillo's windows were positioned precisely to align with this reef break, functioning as a lighthouse that guided canoes safely through the gap, day and night. A small fire lit in the windows after dark transformed the temple into a beacon visible for miles at sea.

In 1518, Spanish explorer Juan de Grijalva led an expedition along the Yucatán coast — the first Europeans ever to see Tulum. Members of his crew, including the chaplain Juan Díaz, recorded seeing a city so large and impressive that they compared it to Seville, one of Spain's greatest cities. The white-plastered buildings, gleaming in the tropical morning sun from their clifftop position, appeared to them as a vision of extraordinary civilization.

Grijalva's expedition did not land at Tulum — they continued along the coast, and it fell to Hernán Cortés to begin the Spanish conquest of the Yucatán Peninsula the following year. By the time sustained Spanish colonization reached the area in the mid-16th century, Tulum was already in decline.

Interestingly, Tulum was one of the last Mayan cities to be abandoned — it remained inhabited well into the early Spanish colonial period, until around 1550 CE. The combination of disease, forced labor, and the disruption of traditional trade networks ultimately led the remaining inhabitants to leave, and the jungle gradually reclaimed the site.

Rediscovery in the 19th century

Tulum was "rediscovered" by the outside world in 1840, when Juan José Gálvez made the first documented modern visit to the site. The following year, American explorer John Lloyd Stephens and British artist Frederick Catherwood published a detailed account of the ruins in their celebrated book Incidents of Travel in Yucatan (1843). Catherwood's meticulous drawings of El Castillo and other structures introduced Tulum to the English-speaking world for the first time.

Systematic archaeological study of the site began in the 20th century, led by researchers including Sylvanus Morley and George P. Andrews. INAH (Mexico's National Institute of Anthropology and History) now manages and protects the site.