Its monumental buildings exceed 1,000,000 cubic meters of constructive volume and at least two raised causeways, known by their Mayan term sacbeob, connect it with other important centers, Ruins of Ake, located 29 kilometres (18 mi) to the west and Kantunil, 18 kilometers to the south, evidencing the religious, political and economic power of this political unit over a territory of more than 5,000 square kilometres (1,900 sq mi) in extension.

Izamal developed a particular constructive technique involving use of megalithic carved blocks, with defined architectonical characteristics like rounded corners, projected mouldings and thatched roofs at superstructures, which also appeared in other important urban centers within its hitherland, such as Ake, Uci and Dzilam.

The first is a great pyramid to the Maya Sun god, Kinich Kak Moo (macaw of the solar fire face) with a base covering over 2 acres (8,000 m2) of ground and a volume of some 700,000 cubic meters.

However, due to the immense effort required to level the two massive structures, the Spanish opted to place a small Christian temple atop the great pyramid and construct a large Franciscan Monastery on the acropolis.

When that industry declined in the 1960s, the municipal and state government began efforts to turn Izamal into a tourist destination, transforming the city's appearance in the process.

[5][6] In 1965, Governor of Yucatán Luis Torres Mesías ordered the demolition of several buildings surrounding the San Antonio de Padua convent.

He and his successor Carlos Loret de Mola Mediz also oversaw the conversion of Plaza Zamná from a public market into a park.

[5] Pope John Paul II visited Izamal in August 1993, where he performed a mass and presented the statue of the Virgin with a silver crown.

An early colonial era statue of the Virgin of the Immaculate Conception ("Our Lady of Izamal") is particularly venerated, and is the state's patron saint.