Kinichna means “house of the sun” in Maya. The Kinichna archeological site is located in southern Quintana Roo. Located to the northwest of the city of Chetumal, the state capital, it forms part of the Dzibanche-Kinichna complex.

The Dzibanche-Kinichna complex is in a transition zone between the low forest found in the northern section of the Yucatan peninsula and the rainy tropical forest of the Petén. The settlement covered an area greater than 15 square miles and it has four groups of monumental architecture: Dzibanche or the Main Group, the Central Complex or Lamay Group, Tutil, and Kinichna. They served specific functions are were linked by sacbes, or Mayan white roads.

 Location

The site is 50 miles northwest of the city of Chetumal. You can get there on the Chetumal-Escárcega Federal Highway 186, and at the Kilometer 58 marker, take the road nine miles toward the village of Morocoy. At the village, continue a mile and a quarter on the road to San Pedro Peralta and turn left when you see the sign.

Historical Overview 

Dzibanche-Kinichna was actually a group of complexes of monumental constructions, linked not only by a shared history - judging from the uniformity of their architecture - but also physically by sacbeob, or Mayan white roads, which connected the main complexes.