Playa del Carmen
Playa del Carmen is named for Our Lady of Mount Carmel, who is the patron saint of Cancún. She was known as Our Lady of Mount Carmel, a town in Italy, which was the first place where a chapel was built in her honor, in 1263, before her ascension into heaven. The first recorded visitors to the beaches of what is now Playa del Carmen came during the Early Classic Period (a.d. 300-600) of the Mayan civilization. Then called Xaman-Ha, or "waters of the north," Playa del Carmen was a rest stop of sorts for travelers making their way from the great cities of the Mayan world to the island of Cozumel. Cozumel, called Ah Cuzamil Petén, meaning "island of the swallows," by the Mayans, was a sacred site and home to Ix-Chel, the goddess of fertility and wife of Itzámna, the god of the sun. Young women across the Mayan empire, from present-day Yucatán, Honduras, Belize, and beyond, journeyed to Cozumel on a sacred pilgrimage to pay homage to Ix-Chel and pray for fertility and healthy childbirth. During the post-Classical period (a.d. 1000-1500), the areas around Playa del Carmen, Cancún, and Cozumel served as a major trade route and religious center, and the Mayan culture flourished and prospered. Near the end of this period, the populations dwindled as the natives dispersed due to storms and wars and to seek gentler climates.
Hernan Cortez came in 1519, bringing Catholicism and not much of an appreciation for the Mayan way of life. Cortez and his men demolished Mayan temples and built a Catholic church, and he also brought something else with him when he landed on Cozumel-smallpox. The disease spread quickly within the island's close-knit community, and the population was decimated, dropping from 40,000 to less than 200 within 50 years. The first European settlement in the region was at Xel-Ha, just a few miles south of Playa del Carmen, which had been a Mayan outpost and is now an ecotourism theme park. Over the next two hundred years, the Spanish traveled throughout the Playa del Carmen area and the Yucatán, spreading Catholicism and disease as they went. Many Mayans resisted the new religion, and small communities retained their traditional ways and their sacred cultures. During the 1700s and 1800s, pirates set up shop on the nearly deserted shores of Cozumel, using it as a base for their marauding forays across the channel to Playa del Carmen and elsewhere around the region.
In 1902 the region was finally granted status as a territory of the country of Mexico, and it was named after Gen. Andreas Quintana Roo, of the Mexican army. Starting in the early 1980s, little by little, street by street, the tiny fishing village and ferry town began to grow. In the early 1990s, Playa del Carmen became a regular stop for the cruise lines, exposing Playa del Carmen to a new breed of revelers. By 2006 the Riviera Maya was considered one of the top international tourist destinations in the world.
Hernan Cortez came in 1519, bringing Catholicism and not much of an appreciation for the Mayan way of life. Cortez and his men demolished Mayan temples and built a Catholic church, and he also brought something else with him when he landed on Cozumel-smallpox. The disease spread quickly within the island's close-knit community, and the population was decimated, dropping from 40,000 to less than 200 within 50 years. The first European settlement in the region was at Xel-Ha, just a few miles south of Playa del Carmen, which had been a Mayan outpost and is now an ecotourism theme park. Over the next two hundred years, the Spanish traveled throughout the Playa del Carmen area and the Yucatán, spreading Catholicism and disease as they went. Many Mayans resisted the new religion, and small communities retained their traditional ways and their sacred cultures. During the 1700s and 1800s, pirates set up shop on the nearly deserted shores of Cozumel, using it as a base for their marauding forays across the channel to Playa del Carmen and elsewhere around the region.
In 1902 the region was finally granted status as a territory of the country of Mexico, and it was named after Gen. Andreas Quintana Roo, of the Mexican army. Starting in the early 1980s, little by little, street by street, the tiny fishing village and ferry town began to grow. In the early 1990s, Playa del Carmen became a regular stop for the cruise lines, exposing Playa del Carmen to a new breed of revelers. By 2006 the Riviera Maya was considered one of the top international tourist destinations in the world.
|
"Chaac Tun" cenote
Chaak was a beloved Mayan deity responsible for the rain and as such was very important to the ancient Mayans. Tun means stone, so this denote is basically named the Rain God's cave. The Yucatan Peninsula is a limestone shelf beneath which lies the largest cave system in the world. Over millions of years, rainwater has filled these caves and when the roof of one of the caves collapses, it creates a cenote. Some of the best-known cenotes are large open pools, resembling lagoons, often found deep in the jungle. But there are also smaller cenotes that are partially or even totally hidden underground. Cenotes contain remarkable crystal-clear water, fascinating rock formations and a freshwater ecosystem. The history of cenotes stretches back to the ancient Mayans who once inhabited this area. Cenotes were the Mayan’s main source of drinking water, which is why all the settlements, were built around these natural pools. The cenotes, known to the Mayans as dzonot or ts’onot, meaning sacred well, were also of great spiritual value. Mayans believed cenotes were portals to the underworld and a way to communicate with the gods. Cenotes still hold many secrets, as much of the underground cave system remains unexplored. |