El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1914-07-04
CITY
Of THE MlYiS IS
DRAWING NOTICE
Temples and Ruins Rivaling
Those Of Egypt Are
Found in Mexico.

Washington, D. c., July 4-FOr
many centuries Mexico has been the
3 home of many races Most people are
I wont TO regard il as the home Of only
I the Aztecs, with whose civilization
B Prescott and the early Spanish chroni-
clerS have made them more or less
Z familiar The arclaeOlOgisL and stu
dent Of pre-Columbian and prehistoric
times. however. knows that there were
races. especially in southern Mexico
and parts Of Central America, whose
ancient civilization had no connection
with the empire Of AOuteZumas, and
/ whose wonderful works Ions ago
! fallen into decay and ruin. are now
the subjects Of scientific research and
study To Americans these should be
as interesting Is the ruins Of ancient
Esypt or the buried cities Of Asia and
Under the title Ancient Temples
and Cities of the New World" the
Monthly Bulletin Of the Pan American
Union. Washington. ID. c., has been
publishing q series of articles dealing
with these relics Of "a splendid but long
forgotten people one Of the most in
terestinE Of the ruined cities bore The
name OF Chiclen TIA, once the Holy
City" Of the Nayas a people Of whom
Sylvanus c. Morley writes
older Than Columbus
Long before the discovery OF Amer
lea there 1ourlsned IN southern Mex
leo. Guatemala, and parts OF Honduras
great civilization, which has been
called the Maya Tt may be said with
had reached a height eQualled by no
other people OF the western hemisphere
prior to the coming OF the white man
In architecture sculpture, and in paint
ing the Mayas eECelled-
The ancient glory OF this people had
long since departed when fernando
Cortez first came in contact with them
on the coast Of Iucatan in 1913 Their
start had set Their greatest cities had
been abandoned and lay in ruins Even
the memory of the older cities OF their
culture. such as Palenque. Copan. and
QuiriEua- for example, seems TO have
passed from The minds Of men. their
former existence forgotten Probably
the largest. and certainly the most
magnificent. Of the ruined cities which
the Spanish cOuquerOrs found on their
arrival in Iucatan was Chlchen TIA.
around which even i'm its desoIation
there still cluster q thousand traditions
OF former s2uc-lrE and splendor- The
name is Maya. and means The Mouth
OF the Wells of the ItZas'
Visiting the Ruins.
To WISH the ancient city now. one
jolrs for j. Ions and weary miles in a
rVvO-T heeled cart drawn by three miles
over the rouehest kind Of a highway
imaginable Finally. when il seems
that the limit Of physical endurance
has been reached. the cart suddenly
lurches around a sharp turn in the road
and is If by magic the lofty Castillo
flashes into view. towering high above
the plain and the rest of the city
This imposing structure, the high
est in Nucatan. rises IS feet above the
plain The pyramid on which che tenn
pie stands is 1s5 feet long and covers
about an acre OF ground II is made
of nine terraces Of faced masonry.
each terrace deliberately paneled 10 re-
lieve the mOnOtOny of effect I'd the
center Of each Of its four sides rises q
stairway s. feet wide These stair
ways have massive stone balusIrades.
carved 10 represent serpents the heads
being at the bases OF the stairways and
thanking them
The Castillo would seem TO have
been the center Of the ancient city. and -
probably its chief sanctuary To the
north lies the sacred cen0te CwelD and
the causeway leading 10 it. On the
east is a vast group Of buildings. colon
nades, courts, and pyramids The City
Of a Thousand Columns as some one
has picturesquely described IT, Due
west IS the group OF structures known
the the Ball Court To the south for
half mile or more, scattered through
the jungle, are pyramids, courts. TEN
pies. and palaces The central location
Of the Castillo with reference TO all OF
these. as well as its great size and
commanding height argue strongly
that IL was the chief sanctuary of the
Holy City In another structure. the
House Of Tigers are found the rem
-ngS- One Of these represents an at
tack by an enemy on large city.
sp-endldly executed. and presents per-
maps the most remarkable piece Of alb
1rlElnal painting know 10 be in eNiS-
-ence- The total area covered by ths
ruins has been estimated at 10 square
niles