Chichen Itza

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Chichén Itzá

Photos taken in 1962

 

the archaeological site

Chichén Itzá, most important city of the Maya peoples, now an archaeological site, 29 km (18 mi) southwest of Valladolid, Mexico, in the northern part of the Yucatán Peninsula. The name, meaning "Mouth of the Wells of Itzá," is derived from the Itzá tribe of Mayan Native Americans that formerly occupied it and from the two natural wells that supplied the city with water; the religious and cultural life of the city was centered on those wells.

 

the spring well
(human sacrifices were made to ensure a water supply)

 Chichén Itzá was founded early in the 6th century AD and abandoned about the year 670. Rebuilt some 300 years later, when the Itzá returned to the region, it became the most important city of northern Yucatán and a center of Mayan culture. The architecture of this period shows Toltec influence, but it is unclear how that influence gained hold in Chichen Itzá. The city finally fell in around 1200. Subsequently, the Itzá appear to have been a part of an alliance in the Postclassic center of Mayapán, which itself collapsed in the century before the Spanish conquest.

 

serpent god

The principal ruins cover an area of about 3 sq km (about 1 sq mi). The general structural type is that of the platform pyramid, ascended by means of broad stairways leading to vaulted chambers, the walls of which are covered with sculptured figures and hieroglyphic inscriptions or vividly colored paintings resembling the Aztec codices.

 

Mayan sculptured figure

Each prominent structure is known by a distinct name, such as the Ball Court that was used for symbolic religious games. It is formed of two parallel walls, each 83 m (274 ft) long and 9 m (30 ft) thick, standing 36 m (120 ft) apart. Projecting from each wall 7 m (25 ft) above the ground is a sculptured ring of stone in the form of two entwined serpents. During the game the players attempted to send the ball through the ring.

 

side wall of the ball court

Another important ruin is El Castillo, a large temple on a pyramidal mound 0.4 hectares (1.0 acre) in area and rising to a height of 30 m (100 ft), with staircases leading up on four sides to the temple of Kukulcan at the top. 

 

Temple of the Warriors as seen from the top
 of the temple of Kukulcan
(notice the flatness of the landscape)

The Palace or Nunnery (Casa de las Monjas), the Sacred Well, the Temple of the Warriors, and the Caracol or Round Tower, probably an astronomical observatory, are among the other notable ruins.

 

Mayan Arch with Caracol in background

 

Close view of Round Tower

Text from Microsoft Encarta

More Photos of Chichén Itzá

Photos from a revisit in 1987

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More Mayan Art

 

rows of skulls

 

 

ball court

 

at the end of the ball court

 

serpent head

 

wall art

 

blocks in disarray

 

carved figure

 

Mayan warrior

 

Jaguar?

 

 

warrior

 

 

Chac-Mool character

 

serpent God

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Baja California Bull Fight Cancun Chichen Itza Chichen Itza 1987 Chihuahua Colonial Cities Copper Canyon Cuilapan Convent Cozumel Dolphins Dying and Weaving Elderhostel Folkloric Guadalajara Guanajuato Huatulco Kabah Mexico City suburbs Mexico City Mitla and Yagal Monte Alban Morelia Nogales Oaxaca Palenque Mayan Art Quintana Roo San Felipe Sonora State of Tabasco Taxco Textiles Tijuana Tulum Tuxtla Gutierrez Uruapan Uxmal Uxmal buildings Xochimilco Zinacantan

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