Fodor's Expert Review Baluarte de Santiago/Xmuch-Haltún Botanical Gardens

The last of the bastions to be built has been transformed into the Xmuch-Haltún Botanical Gardens with more than 200 plant species, including the enormous ceiba tree, which had spiritual importance to the Maya, symbolizing a link between heaven, Earth, and the underworld. The original bastion, erected in 1704, was demolished at the turn of the 20th century, then rebuilt in the 1950s.