Mexico's World Heritage record and the city at the well of the Itzaes

Background

Mexico has 36 Properties inscribed on the World Heritage List. Of these, 28 are cultural, 6 are natural and 2 are mixed. The UNESCO World Heritage Centre records Mexico's acceptance of the Convention as Thursday, 23 February 1984. The Mexican properties include the Pre-Hispanic City of Chichen-Itza (1988), the Pre-Hispanic City of Teotihuacan (1987), El Tajin, Pre-Hispanic City (1992), the Earliest 16th-Century Monasteries on the Slopes of Popocatepetl, and the Agave Landscape and Ancient Industrial Facilities of Tequila (2006). Chichen-Itza is inscribed under criteria (i)(ii)(iii). The town was established during the Classic period close to two natural cavities (cenotes or chenes), which gave the town its name 'At the edge of the well of the Itzaes'; the cenotes facilitated tapping the underground waters of the area. The sector known as Chichen Viejo already boasted monuments including the Nunnery, the Church, Akab Dzib, Chichan Chob, the Temple of the Panels and the Temple of the Deer.