Ever wanted to visit a city of gold? Discover Izamal, Yucatán’s very own pueblo mágico, literally “magical community,” a title it earned as a result of its rich heritage. Accessible from Chichén Itzá or Valladolid (take the turn off on Highway 180 or the toll road), Izamal is a blend of pre-Hispanic and Spanish architecture painted in bright yellow with a white trim, and the traditions of the Yucatán. Five Mayan pyramids on the outskirts of the town have also given it the nickname Ciudad de Cerros, “City of the Hills.”.

The earliest traces of human occupation in the Izamal area date back to the third century B.C., making the site older than Uxmal and Chichén Itzá, the latter a city to which Izamal was both an ally and an enemy at different times during its history. Over 20 major Mayan buildings have been found in and around Izamal, along with a network of sacbes or roads, house mounds, burials and other traces of human settlement. Standing 35 meters high, the largest structure is the Kinich Kakmo pyramid, the third largest building in Mesoamerica in terms of volume.

Early Spanish churches were often built on the site of Mayan temples and the huge convent that dominates the town is a potent symbol of this policy. As the birthplace of the legendary Zamná or Itzamná, the head god in the Mayan pantheon, Izamal was an important shrine in the pre-Hispanic period and the Spaniards took this into account, transforming it into a major Franciscan mission. Stones from the Pap-Hol-Chac pyramid were used to build the San Antonio de Padua Convent, which was completed in 1618 and has the second largest atrium in the world, after St. Peter’s in Rome.

As you stroll through the convent, look out for the golden altarpiece, a series of 16th and 17th-century frescos, revealed when a thick layer of plaster was removed during restoration work and the statue of the Virgin of the Immaculate Conception, the patron saint of the Yucatán. A small museum documents the history of the convent, the legends associated with the Virgin and the 1993 visit of His Holiness Pope John Paul II to Izamal. It is possible to visit the chapel, the cloisters and see some of the cells. To the east of the convent you can see the remains of the noria or well and the monastery garden.

A Light & Sound Show takes place in the convent atrium on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday at 8 p.m.
There are two festivals commemorating Our Lady of Izamal, the Assumption, August 15 and, most importantly, the Immaculate Conception, December 8. The whole town turns out for mass, processions, a traditional fair and vaquería (folk dances and music).

Most of the houses, arches, churches, schools and other buildings including the 18th-century Town Hall, which faces the Convent across the central square, sport the Izamal colors. You can explore the town by foot or hire one of the horse-drawn carriages or victorias that wait patiently beside the convent wall.

Visit the tiny Community Museum in Calle 31, the colonial churches of San Ildefonso, Los Remedios, Carmen and Santa Cruz and sit in one of the town’s parks or squares and watch the Izamaleños go about their business.

Izamal is a town of craftsmen and several workshops in different neighborhoods are open to the public. You can watch women embroider traditional cotton dresses called hipiles, see how wood carvers and jewelers use native woods, henequen and cocoyol seeds, and find out how a hammock is made. There are also miniatures, papier mache, tinwork and herbal medicine workshops. Ask about the Folk Art Route in the Tourism Office. You can purchase crafts in the town square and at the Hecho a Mano handicraft store.

Getting there: Izamal is 68 kilomteres west of Chichen Itza, take Highway 180 or the Cancun-Merida toll road to Kantunil, you’ll see the turn-off for Izamal clearly marked