Petecbiltún

Petecbiltún is a small settlement in the municipality of Umán, about 9 km south-east of the city of Umán and a little over 2 km north of Hotzuc, both in a straight line. It had 169 people at the 2020 census. Its Maya name has been spelled many ways over the years: Petebiltum in the 1900 census, then Petecbiltún, Petechiltún in 1940 and Petec Biltún in 1990, before settling on its current form.

The census history tells a story of its own. Petecbiltún was a tiny community at the start of the 20th century, with 30 people in 1900, 45 in 1921 and only 13 in 1930. From 1940 to 1970 the censuses list no one living here at all. People came back later: 102 inhabitants were counted in 1990, 126 in 2000, 155 in 2005 and 169 in 2020. Like the neighbouring villages, it is listed among Yucatán's former haciendas.

Today it is a quiet place of a few streets with a small park and a small white church with a bell gable. There are no visitor services; it is best seen as a short stop on the way to Hotzuc, whose hacienda walls hold carved stones from an ancient Maya site, or to Xtepén and its restored hacienda.