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Chichen ltza
The best-preserved Maya site on the Yucatan peninsula,
Ch ichen ltza continues to confound archeologists. The date
of the first settlement in the older, southern part of the site is
uncertain, but the northern section was built during a Maya
renaissance in the 11th century. Similarities with Tula, the
ancient capital of the Toltec empire, and myths of exiled Toltec
god-king Quetzalcoatl (Ku ku lean) settling at Chichen ltza,
suggest that the renaissance was due to a Toltec invasion.
However, other theories hold that Tu Ia was influenced by the
Maya, not vice versa. In its heyday as a commercial, religious, Carved figure,
A Ball Court and military center, which lasted until about the 13th century, Temple of the Warriors
At 5 50 ft (168 m) in length,
this is the largest ball court in Chichen ltza supported more than 35,000 people.
Mesoamerica. Still in place are
the two engraved rings that Y El Castillo
the ba II had to pass through.
Main entrance
Y Sa<red Cenote
OFFERINGS
Thousands of objects,
including some made of
gold and jade, were cast
into the Sacred Cenote
as offerings to the rain
god. If a human sacrificial
victim survived, they were
thought to possess the
power of prophecy.
A Temple of the Warriors
Set on a small pyramid, this is decorated with
sculptures of the rain god Chac and the plumed
serpent Kukulcan. A chacmoo/ statue and two
S-shaped serpent columns guard the entrance. Tomb of the
High Priest B~a-~:z
..: Nunnery
So called because its
small rooms reminded
the Spaniards of nuns'
cells, this large structure,
Y Observatory built in three stages, was
Also called El Caracol (The probably a palace. This
Snail) for its spiral staircase, f ao;a de of the eastern
this building was an astro- annexe has particularly
nomical observatory. The beautiful stone fretwork
various slits in thew all s
correspond to the positions of
certain celestial bodies on key
dates in the Maya calendar. ~ Observatory
~Nunnery
La Iglesia
This building is
decorated with fret-
work, masks of the
rain god C hac, and the
bacabs-four animals
who, in Maya myth,
held up the sky. ._
A A serpent's head representing
the god Kukul<an, El Castillo /
Chi <hen Viejo
