Izamal is a small city in the Yucatán state, 72km east of Mérida. It is known in Yucatán as "The Yellow City", because most of its buildings are painted yellow, and "The City of Hills", though most of the "hills" are probably the remains of ancient temple pyramids.

History and Culture
Izamal was an important archaeological site of the Pre-Columbian Maya civilization. It was sacred to the creator deity Itzamna and to the Sun God Kinich Ahau. Izamal was a site of pilgrimages in the region rivalled only by Chichen Itza. Izamal remains a place of pilgrimage within Yucatán, now for the veneration of Roman Catholic saints. Several saints statues at Izamal are said to perform miracles. An early colonial-era statue of the Virgin of the Immaculate Conception is particularly venerated, and is the city's patron saint.

Sightseeing
Two huge Pre-Columbian structures are still easily visible at Izamal. The first is a great pyramid to the Maya Sun God, Kinch Kak Mo, with a base covering over 8,000 m² of ground with a volume of some 700,000 cubic metres. Atop this grand base is a pyramid of 10 levels. A great stucco mask still existed on one side until fairly recently. The second structure is the so called "acropolis", known anciently as Popol Chac, a large man-made mound probably built up over several centuries and originally supporting city palaces and temples.

Getting there
There are frequent buses arriving here from Mérida.