Mexico: 'Main Temple at Tulum' (Mayan Civilization, Yucatan Peninsula). Frederick Catherwood (1799 - 1854), 1844

Tulum is the site of a pre-Columbian Mayan walled city serving as a major port. The ruins are situated on 12-meter (39 ft) tall cliffs, along the east coast of the Yucatán Peninsula on the Caribbean Sea in the state of Quintana Roo, Mexico. Tulum was one of the last cities built and inhabited by the Maya; it was at its height between the 13th and 15th centuries and managed to survive about 70 years after the Spanish began occupying Mexico. Old World diseases brought by the Spanish settlers appear to have resulted in very high fatalities, disrupting the society and eventually causing the city to be abandoned.