Free tickets to Dzibilchaltún’s video mapping show during Noche Blanca on May 13 are up for grabs — the window of opportunity is tight.
This is a particularly good deal because normally tickets cost 499 pesos.
Free tickets to “Pasos de Luz” are available today until 3 p.m. at the Cultur offices at the Siglo XXI convention center.
To get the free tickets, bring an official ID card and sign up for an allotted tour time.
The video mapping show is accompanied by music and sound effects and tours much of the ancient site, including the main plaza, the Xlacah Cenote, the Sacbé, and the Temple of the Seven Dolls.
Noche Blanca will also feature theatrical performances, night-time guided tours of museums and galleries, as well as musical performances.
Located roughly halfway between Mérida and the port city of Progreso, Dzibilchaltún is the site of an ancient Maya city settled in the third century BC — placing its foundation in the era referred to by archaeologists as Preclassic.
In the Yucatec-Mayan language, Dzibilchaltún means “the place where they wrote on stones.” However, its even harder-to-pronounce original name seems to have been Chi’ y Chaan Ti’ Ho.
The Temple of the Seven Dolls is the most famous structure in Dzibilchaltún. The temple received its name when in the 1950s, archaeologists discovered seven small figures buried within the structure. These “seven dolls” present physical deformations, which for the Maya represented divine favor. The figures can be seen at the site’s museum.
Another interesting feature at the archaeological site includes its sacbé, or “white road” in Mayan. These roads connected city-states throughout Mesoamerica and served as important commercial and military routes. The structure, known as La Capilla or “the chapel,” was actually built during the colonial period and serves as a great example of religious syncretism in Yucatán.
