Xel-Ha Park
Xel-Ha Park is a commercial aquatic theme park and ecotourism development located on the Caribbean coast of the state of Quintana Roo, Mexico, in the municipality of Solidaridad. It is part of Xcaret Experiencias Group which also owns the Xplor Park, Xcaret Park, and Xenses Park as well as the Xichen, Xenotes, and Xoximilco tours and activities. It is situated within the Riviera Maya, a region promoted as a tourism corridor along Highway 307. It is approximately 240 kilometres (149 mi) to the north of Chetumal, and 122 kilometres (76 mi) south of Cancun. The park is named after the site of Xelha, an archaeological site of the pre-Columbian Maya civilization, part of which is located within the lands leased to the park. The Maya site of Tulum is nearby, some 13 kilometres (8.1 mi) to the south. Chapultepec Castle Chapultepec Castle is located on top of Chapultepec Hill. The name Chapultepec stems from the Nahuatl word chapoltepēc which means "at the grasshopper's hill". It is located in the middle of Chapultepec Park in Mexico City. The site of the hill was a sacred place for Aztecs, and the buildings atop it have served several purposes during its history, including that of Military Academy, Imperial residence, Presidential home, observatory, and presently, the National Museum of History. It is the only royal castle in North America that was actually used as the residence of a sovereign. The Mexican Emperor Maximilian I, and his consort Empress Carlota, lived there during the Second Mexican Empire. National Museum of Anthropology The National Museum of Anthropology is a national museum of Mexico. It is the largest and most visited museum in Mexico. Located in the area between Paseo de la Reforma and Mahatma Gandhi Street within Chapultepec Park in Mexico City, the museum contains significant archaeological and anthropological artifacts from the Mexico's pre-Columbian heritage, such as the Stone of the Sun and the Aztec Xochipilli statue. The museum is managed by the Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia, or INAH. Assessments of the museum vary, with one considering it is a national treasure and a symbol of identity. The museum is the synthesis of an ideological, scientific, and political feat. Coba Coba is an ancient Mayan city on the Yucatán Peninsula, located in the Mexican state of Quintana Roo. The site is the nexus of the largest network of stone causeways of the ancient Mayan world, and it contains many engraved and sculpted stelae that document ceremonial life and important events of the Late Classic Period (AD 600–900) of Mesoamerican civilization. The adjacent modern village bearing the same name, reported a population of 1,278 inhabitants in the 2010 Mexican federal census. Zocalo It has been a gathering place for Mexicans since Aztec times, having been the site of Mexica ceremonies, the swearing in of viceroys, royal proclamations, military parades, Independence ceremonies and modern religious events such as the festivals of Holy Week and Corpus Christi. It has received foreign heads of state and is the main venue for both national celebration and national protest. The Zocalo and surrounding blocks have played a central role in the city's planning and geography for almost 700 years. The site is just one block southwest of the Templo Mayor which, according to Aztec legend and mythology, was considered the center of the universe. |