El Castillo

El Castillo which is also known as Pyramid of Kukulcan, has nine stepped bodies, and on each of its four sides, there  is a staircase with 91 steps: 364 steps plus the platform at the top represent 365 days. Each of the staircases is flanked by walls that end in a snake’s head “the god of Kukulcan”. On the spring and the autumn equinoxes, shadows fall on the walls by the steps , forming a zig zag pattern  which looks like an undulating  snake.  Each year, this “descent of Kukulcan” attracts many spectators. Mayan cosmologists believed that every fifty two years a new life cycle began, so they built new pyramids over the existing ones. At Chichen Itza, the small original pyramid was buried under the current one which can be accessed through a tunnel.

Old Chichen Itza

This part of the city is about one and a half mile long. Here we find, among other buildings, the Temple of the Three Lintels, the base of which is characterized by the Puuc style of architecture.
One of the few examples of building still remain from the Classic Period is the Chichan’Chob, or Red House, built between the 17th  and 10th centuries and so named for the red strip painted on the wall main entrance.

Another building in Old Chichen Itzá is the nun´s palace that is composed by many small rooms, which reminds the Spaniards, who conquered the peninsula in the 16th century. On the northeast side of the building there is a superstructure comprised of several galleries and chamber called the East Annex, one of the most beautiful structures ever found in the Chenes architecture style. This building is a typical example of the false arch of a Mayan construction. It is formed from carved stone blocks laid on top on another opposite parallel walls, each successive block slightly overlapping until they eventually meet at the highest point of the room.

Perhaps the most impressive building in Old Chichen is the Observatory, called El Caracol,  a noteworthy circular construction. Its name derives from the staircase inside, which spirals to the top like the inside of a shell. The temple is a series of superimposed structures on the rectangular, double platform.

El Caracol was one of the Maya´s most important temples. It was there that they developed their vast astronomical knowledge measuring seasonal changes and observing the movement of the starts.
In this central group is the Ossuary, or Tomb of the Great priest explored by the U.S diplomat Edward Thompson (1856-1935), who found polychrome clay funerary jars inside.

The Cenote Xtoloc, that is located 500 ft northeastward from the Observatory, was the main source of drinking water for people living on the outskirts of the ceremonial center.  Cenote word, comes from the Mayan, “tsónot”) which are natural wells that abound in the Yucatan peninsula, where no surfer rivers are found. That is why the ancient cities in the northern area were always settled near one or more of them.

The New Chichen or the Northern Section

El Castillo, or the pyramid of Kukulcan dominates the northern section of the city. It was built during the Maya-Toltec Period. It represents the perfect combination of Mayan architectural skillfulness and their vast knowledge of astronomy and mathematically precise calendars.

A short distance from El Castillo there is the complex known as the temple of the Warriors that in 1924, when the first exploring started only glimpses of this could be seen through the lush vegetation. Troops of workers were needed to clear the 508 ft by 467 ft of this area.

On the top of the temple, there is a figure of Chaac Mool – said to be the receiver of sacrificial offerings to the gods – and there are also several stylized representations of Kukulcan, the feathered serpent god, which are easily recognizable because they are represented by a rectangular column from the base from which emerges a large snake´s head, which mouth is open. The tail is a pointed, right angle extension on top of the columns.

The Ball Court is also located in the northern section of the city. Chichen Itza´s Ball Court is the largest ever found in Mexico: it measures 550 ft long by 231 ft wide. Two teams of seven players had to pass a ball which was made from the sap of local trees, through stone rings set vertically at the top of the two parallel walls  to score points. Players were only allowed to use their elbows, hips and knees, but never hands. However, these games did not have any sporting purpose and the entrance was restricted to priests and nobility. The ball game was a ritual to worship the sun.

It is said, and the base relieves on the temple seem to confirm it — that at the end of the game the captain of one of the teams was sacrificed: the loser according to some investigators and the winners, in the opinion of others.

The Temple of the jaguars, which is part of the ball court´s structure, is a clear sample of the Mayan art that composes Chichen Itza. It contains magnificent relieves of Maya -Toltec priests, as well as a beautiful combination of colors.

Chichen Itza, which splendor embraced a millennium, epitomizes many of the attributes that gave greatness to the Maya civilization. They innovated circular structures, mastered the practical use of calculation and measurement and created a pictorial and sculptural expression of a complex cosmogony that was applied to their daily life.