What is it
Ancient Mayan city
Where is it
Yucatán peninsula of Mexico
Did you know?
They would sacrifice players after the conclusion of a ball game? (more facts)
A little more on Chichen Itza
Chichen Itza is a Mayan archaeological site located in the Yucatan province of Mexico. It was an impressive city that covered 30 square kms with buildings in the Mayan Puuc and Toltec design. Today, the grounds are divided into two sections, the old and the new, together containing around 30 excavated structures including temples, pyramids and ball courts, with many more waiting to be uncovered.
The old section dates back to 400 AD with buildings in the traditional Mayan Puuc style. Built around a Cenote (natural limestone sinkhole), it contains structures such as El Caracol, the Observatory with a dome looks like a snail, a nunnery, a church and Azab Dzib, the oldest building, whose name roughly means ‘obscure writing’ due to some hieroglyphics inside which cannot be deciphered.
The new section contains structures from around 1100 AD, when it is believed they formed an alliance with the Toltec tribes Xio and Cocom. This had a great influence on their architecture and lifestyle (in particular the introduction of regular human sacrifices to the gods). The most famous building is El Castillo (The Castle) also known as the Temple of Kukulkan. The step pyramid represents a giant Mayan calendar, with 4 sides, each with 91 steps and the top platform totaling 365, which is the number of days in the Mayan calendar year.
