Three Houses to Find Inside the Tulum Ruins

It’s easy to walk straight past Tulum’s palace buildings on the way to the sea. Try reading the remains as floor plans. A row of stones may outline a room, a column marks part of an entrance, and a gap between supports gives a clue to how someone moved through the building.

What does the name Casa del Chultún tell me?

A chultún is an underground cavity adapted to store water. A cistern near the southwest corner gave this house its modern name. For a feature you can locate from the path, look for the entrance with its pair of columns. Beyond it the plan opens into a broad interior space. INAH suggests the building may have belonged to an important resident.

How do I identify the House of the Columns?

Look for a wide palace on an L-shaped base. Along the principal entrance on its south side, four columns divided the opening into five bays and supported the roof. Try counting the gaps first and then the supports. If you have a traveling companion, each pick a different opening to follow with your eye. You can imagine several people entering the same large room side by side.

What was the House of the Halach Uinic?

Its name refers to a Maya ruler. The layout includes a portico and a small sanctuary, with two central rooms and a side room. Look from the signed visitor path and compare its approach with the broader front of the House of the Columns. Both are called houses on the map, but the space set aside for shrines hints at activities beyond cooking and sleeping.