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Rang

The Yellow City

Izamal

A town in Yucatán where the convent, the arcades and nearly every house are painted the same egg-yolk yellow.

Parque Itzamná en Izamal, Yucatán
Photo: Inri, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons

Why Izamal is izamal yellow

Izamal is a small town in the Mexican state of Yucatán. It was an important Maya centre, and the remains of large pyramids still stand among the houses. In the 16th century Franciscan friars built a huge convent on top of one of the platforms. Today the convent, the arcades around the squares and almost all the buildings of the centre are painted one deep yellow with white trim. How this started is not settled. Many say the town was painted for the visit of Pope John Paul II in 1993. Others say the colour is older and honours the Maya sun god or the yellow of maize. Horse-drawn carriages wait in the square.

Izamal yellow#F2B632Trim white#F7F5EEMaya limestone grey#A8A59AYucatán sky blue#4F9FD9

Values are fair approximations of what the eye sees there, not measurements.

Colours tied to Izamal

YellowA primary colour between green and orange, seen in sunlight, leaves, and pigments
About this page

Written by the Rang desk with AI assistance. Background: "Izamal" on Wikipedia. If you know Izamal and we have it wrong, tell us.

More colour cities

All colour cities
🇲🇽 A ravine full of coloured housesGuanajuatoA silver-mining city wedged in a narrow valley, its hillsides stacked with houses of every colour.🇲🇽 Cochineal red and green stoneOaxacaA city of green stone and painted walls in a region that gave the world a brilliant red dye from insects.🇲🇽 Ochre walls and a pink churchSan Miguel de AllendeA colonial hill town in central Mexico painted in reds, ochres and yellows, around a pink stone church.🇲🇽 Walled city of pastel streetsCampecheA fortified port on the Gulf of Mexico with straight streets of low houses in pale, carefully kept colours.🇲🇽 River port of bold arcadesTlacotalpanA quiet town on the Papaloapan river where every house has a columned porch in a different strong colour.🇮🇳 Birthplace of Krishna, home of HoliMathuraKrishna's birthplace celebrates Holi for more than a week, with processions, music and coloured powder.

Photo credits on this page

The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.

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