Xelha (, Spanish: Xelhá;

Yucatec Maya Yucatec Maya ( ; referred to by its speakers as or ) is a Mayan languages, Mayan language spoken in the Yucatán Peninsula, including part of northern Belize. There is also a significant diasporic community of Yucatec Maya speakers in San Fra ...

: Xel-Há) is an

archaeological site An archaeological site is a place (or group of physical sites) in which evidence of past activity is preserved (either prehistoric or recorded history, historic or contemporary), and which has been, or may be, investigated using the discipline ...

of the

Maya civilization The Maya civilization () was a Mesoamerican civilization that existed from antiquity to the early modern period. It is known by its ancient temples and glyphs (script). The Maya script is the most sophisticated and highly developed writin ...

from

pre-Columbian In the history of the Americas, the pre-Columbian era, also known as the pre-contact era, or as the pre-Cabraline era specifically in Brazil, spans from the initial peopling of the Americas in the Upper Paleolithic to the onset of European col ...

Mesoamerica Mesoamerica is a historical region and cultural area that begins in the southern part of North America and extends to the Pacific coast of Central America, thus comprising the lands of central and southern Mexico, all of Belize, Guatemala, El S ...

, located on the eastern coastline of the

Yucatán Peninsula The Yucatán Peninsula ( , ; ) is a large peninsula in southeast Mexico and adjacent portions of Belize and Guatemala. The peninsula extends towards the northeast, separating the Gulf of Mexico to the north and west of the peninsula from the C ...

, in the present-day state of

Quintana Roo Quintana Roo, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Quintana Roo, is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, constitute the 32 administrative divisions of Mexico, federal entities of Mexico. It is divided into municipalities of ...

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

. The

etymology Etymology ( ) is the study of the origin and evolution of words—including their constituent units of sound and meaning—across time. In the 21st century a subfield within linguistics, etymology has become a more rigorously scientific study. ...

of the site's name comes from Yukatek Maya, combining the roots ''xel'' ("spring") and ''ha''' ("water"). The

lagoon A lagoon is a shallow body of water separated from a larger body of water by a narrow landform, such as reefs, barrier islands, barrier peninsulas, or isthmuses. Lagoons are commonly divided into ''coastal lagoons'' (or ''barrier lagoons'') an ...

and inlet at Xelha has been turned into a commercial water theme park known as Xel-Ha Park.

History

The site of Xelha is located south of the modern township of Playa del Carmen, in the state of Quintana Roo, Mexico. The evidence is inconclusive concerning a founding date for Xel-Ha, but it was occupied by the 1st century and active during Classic and Postclassic times, with most of the buildings being rebuilt in the Late Postclassic. It was probably not fully abandoned until the 19th century. A

stela A stele ( ) or stela ( )The plural in English is sometimes stelai ( ) based on direct transliteration of the Greek, sometimes stelae or stelæ ( ) based on the inflection of Greek nouns in Latin, and sometimes anglicized to steles ( ) or stela ...

with an Early Classic date of 9.6.10.0.0 (AD 564) from Xel-Ha was discovered in 1841 by Stephens and Catherwood. Xelha was one of several key ports of the Maya city of

Coba Coba () is an ancient Maya 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 Maya world, and it contains many engraved and sculpted stelae ...

; others included Tancah and

Tulum Tulum (, ) is the site of a pre-Columbian Mayan walled city which served as a major port for Coba, in the Mexican state of Quintana Roo. The ruins are situated on cliffs along the east coast of the Yucatán Peninsula on the Caribbean Sea. T ...

. It was likely used as a point of intercultural exchange between the Maya and other sea-navigating peoples between the 7th and 12th centuries, and eventually was a beacon to which European colonial navigators were drawn. The location of Xelha was used as a base by Spanish forces, during the ultimately unsuccessful first expedition (1527–28) led by the

conquistador Conquistadors (, ) or conquistadores (; ; ) were Spanish Empire, Spanish and Portuguese Empire, Portuguese colonizers who explored, traded with and colonized parts of the Americas, Africa, Oceania and Asia during the Age of Discovery. Sailing ...

Francisco de Montejo Francisco de Montejo (; 1479 – 1553) was a Spanish conquistador in Mexico and Central America. Early years Francisco de Montejo was born about 1473 to a family of lesser Spanish nobility in Salamanca, Spain. He never documented his parentag ...

(the Elder). Montejo, who had obtained a charter from the Spanish Crown in 1526 to pacify the

, crossed over from the island of

Cozumel Cozumel (; ) is an island and municipality in the Caribbean Sea off the eastern coast of Mexico's Yucatán Peninsula, opposite Playa del Carmen. It is separated from the mainland by the Cozumel Channel and is close to the Yucatán Channel. The ...

to make landfall at Xelha's lagoons, a short distance from a local Maya village. He set about establishing what was intended to be the first Spanish settlement on the peninsula, which he named "Salamanca de Xelha" after his birthplace in western Spain,

Salamanca Salamanca () is a Municipality of Spain, municipality and city in Spain, capital of the Province of Salamanca, province of the same name, located in the autonomous community of Castile and León. It is located in the Campo Charro comarca, in the ...

. However, the supplies he had brought soon proved inadequate to the task of sustaining the venture. Despite attempts to commandeer and raid neighboring Maya settlements for food, his fledgling settlement lost some fifty men within the first two months to disease and privation. In an action reminiscent of

Hernán Cortés Hernán Cortés de Monroy y Pizarro Altamirano, 1st Marquis of the Valley of Oaxaca (December 1485 – December 2, 1547) was a Spanish ''conquistador'' who led an expedition that caused the fall of the Aztec Empire and brought large portions o ...

, Montejo ordered the scuttling of his ships in the face of growing discontent, forcing them to remain. Eventually Montejo's forces stabilised sufficiently for him to mount explorations from his temporary encampment, heading out with some 125 men north towards Ecab near

Cape Catoche Cabo Catoche or Cape Catoche, in the Mexican state of Quintana Roo, is the northernmost point on the Yucatán Peninsula. It lies in the municipality of Isla Mujeres, about north of the city of Cancún. According to the International Hydrograph ...

. The sortie returned several months later after losing half of his men in a battle against the Maya near Ake, and to disease. The 65 ''conquistadores'' who had been left behind at Salamanca de Xelha fared no better with many being massacred in Maya raids, leaving Montejo with only about a third of his original complement. The fortuitous arrival at that point of another of his ships from Santo Domingo with provisions and reinforcements prevented further disaster, and an expedition was sent out to the south towards the Maya township of

Chetumal Chetumal (, , ; , ) is a city on the east coast of the Yucatán Peninsula in Mexico. It is the capital of the List of states of Mexico, state of Quintana Roo and the municipal seat of the Othón P. Blanco, Quintana Roo, Municipality of Othón ...

. This also failed to gain any foothold, and within eighteen months of Montejo's first landfall in Yucatán, the encampment at Salamanca de Xelha and the eastern coast were abandoned.

Notes

References

* * * * * * * * * * * {{Authority control Maya sites in Quintana Roo Natural history of Quintana Roo Lagoons of Mexico Former populated places in Mexico Tourism in Mexico Landforms of Quintana Roo Maya sites that survived the end of the Classic Period