Surroundings, Labná

About 20km/12.4mi north of Labná via Cooperativa on the road to Oxcutzcab are the Lol-tún Caves ("Grutas de Lol-tún"); the name means "stone flower" in Maya.On the outside rock wall near the Nahkab entrance to the cave can be seen a larger-than-life flat relief figure of a richly-ornamented Maya warrior with a spear in his right hand. Experts have not yet been able to decipher a row of vertical glyphs above and to the left of the figure, but there is little doubt that they are among the oldest Maya inscriptions yet found. The relief has now been dated at 300 to 100 BC. The interesting stalactitic caves contain remnants of wall-paintings and rock-drawings as well as the "Stone Head of Lol-tún". The caves were probably inhabited as long ago as 2500 BC Pottery dating from 1200 to 600 BC has been found, as well as some from the Maya Classic period and later. It is assumed that the caves were also used as places of refuge from the Spanish conquistadors. There are conducted tours of the caves at certain times of the day.

From Oxkutzcab, only 7km/4.3mi beyond Lol-tún, it is worth making a detour to the little town of Maní, 10km/6mi to the north.Historically this was a place of some importance. About AD 1450, after the destruction of Mayapán, the Xiú tribe, coming from the Uxmal area, founded the town, prophetically calling it Maní ("it is all over" in Maya). The subsequent period, until the arrival of the Spaniards, saw the decline of the great Maya civilisation and the disintegration of the Maya empire into some twenty warring city states, the most important of which was the Xiú city of Maní. The fall of the Maya empire facilitated the Spanish conquest of the country. The last ruler of Maní, Titul-Xiú, surrendered to the conqueror of Yucatán, Francisco de Montejo, in 1542 and became a convert to Christianity.In 1562 the main square of Maní was the scene of the great auto-da-fé in which Bishop Diego de Landa burned all known Maya manuscripts as works of the devil, with the sole exception of three codices.The imposing church of San Miguel was founded by the Franciscans. Maní also has a cenote (sacrificial well) which is the subject of many legends.

Those interested in archaeology would do well to make a further detour from Oxkutzcab to the seldom visited but most impressive Maya site of Chacmultún. Proceed 18km/11mi south-east to Tekax, then turn right on an unsurfaced road to Kancab (7km/4.3mi), from where it is a further 3km/2mi to the site.

Chacmultún (Maya for "hill of red stone") consists of three groups. The first is the west group (Chacmultún). Building 3 consists of several rooms in which remains of wall-paintings have been found. Building 1 has a central flight of steps and columned entrances; it is positioned on a high terraced plateau and has clustered columns on its upper façade. A well-preserved hut-like niche is reminiscent of Labná architecture. In one of the relatively large rooms six projecting foot-shaped stones are of particular interest. Building 2 boasts an unusual flight of steps surrounded by vaulted rooms.

It is more than 200 m (220 yd) back along the path to the Cabalpak group (Maya for "lower terrace") from the West group. The major building in this group is No. 5; the ground floor of the multi-storied structure consists of twelve rooms some of which still have their console arches intact. More clustered columns can be seen near the top of the façade. Access to the upper, overgrown floors is by way of a path to the right.

The path through the site continues for a further 500 m (550 yd) to the Xetpol group on higher ground. On the hill stands the partially-restored Building 4 with five entrances in its middle section. Some wall-paintings can still be made out in the central room. Above this building a further structure with a projecting terrace provides a fine view over these ruins surrounded by relatively unspoiled natural woodland.