Chichen Itza | ancient city, Mexico | Britannica.com ancient city, Mexico list of presidents of Mexico Chichén Itzá, ruined ancient Maya city occupying an area of 4 square miles (10 square km) in south-central Yucatán state, Mexico . It is located some 90 miles (150 km) east-northeast of Uxmal and 75 miles (120 km) east-southeast of the modern city of Mérida . The only source of water in the arid region around the site is from wells (cenotes) formed by sinkholes in limestone formations. Two big cenotes on the site made it a suitable place for the city and gave it its name, from chi (“mouths”), chen (“wells”), and Itzá, the name of the Maya tribe that settled there. Chichén Itzá was designated a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1988. The Casa de las Monjas (“Nunnery”), one of the earliest structures built at … © lunamarina/Fotolia Chichén Itzá, Yucatán, Mex., designated a World Heritage site in 1988.

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. Overview of Chichén Itzá, Yucatán, Mexico. Contunico © ZDF Enterprises GmbH, Mainz Chichén was founded about the 6th century ce, presumably by Maya peoples of the Yucatán Peninsula who had occupied the region since the Pre-Classic, or Formative, Period (1500 bce–300 ce). The principal early buildings are in an architectural style known as Puuc , which shows a number of divergences from the styles of the southern lowlands. These earliest structures are to the south of the Main Plaza and include the Akabtzib (“House of the Dark Writing”), the Chichanchob (“Red House”), the Iglesia (“Church”), the Casa de las Monjas (“Nunnery”), and the observatory El Caracol (“The Snail”). There is evidence that, in the 10th century, after the collapse of the Maya cities of the southern lowlands, Chichén was invaded by foreigners, probably Maya speakers who had been strongly influenced by—and perhaps were under the direction of—the Toltec of central Mexico.

These invaders may have been the Itzá for whom the site is named; some authorities, however, believe the Itzá arrived 200 to 300 years later. Chac Mool sculpture at Chichén Itzá, Yucatán, Mexico. © Comstock Images/Jupiterimages El Caracol (“The Snail”), an observatory at Chichén Itzá, Yucatán, … © Ron Gatepain (A Britannica Publishing Partner) Similar Topics Mitla In any event, the invaders were responsible for the construction of such major buildings as El Castillo (“The Castle”), a pyramid that rises 79 feet (24 metres) above the Main Plaza. El Castillo has four sides, each with 91 stairs and facing a cardinal direction; including the step on the top platform, these combine for a total of 365 steps—the number of days in the solar year. During the spring and autumnal equinoxes, shadows cast by the setting sun give the appearance of a snake undulating down the stairways.

A carving of a plumed serpent at the top of the pyramid is symbolic of Quetzalcóatl (known to the Maya as Kukulcán), one of the major deities of the ancient Mesoamerican pantheon. Excavations within the nine-platform pyramid revealed another, earlier structure containing a red jaguar throne studded with jade. El Castillo (“The Castle”), Chichén Itzá, Yucatán, Mexico. © Graham S. Klotz/Shutterstock.com El Castillo (“The Castle”), Chichén Itzá, Yucatán, Mexico. © Ron Gatepain (A Britannica Publishing Partner) pre-Columbian civilizations: Major sites The ball court (for playing the game tlachtli [Mayan: pok-ta-pok]) is 545 feet (166 metres) long and 223 feet (68 metres) wide, the largest such court in the Americas. Six sculpted reliefs run the length of the walls of the court, apparently depicting the victors of the game holding the severed head of a member of the losing team.

On the upper platform at one end of the court stands the Temple of the Jaguars, inside of which is a mural showing warriors laying siege to a village. Standing on the platform of the temple to the north of the court, it is possible to hear a whisper from 150 feet (46 metres) away. The tlachtli (Mayan: pok-ta-pok) ball court at Chichén … Nataliya Hora—Hemera/Thinkstock Jaguar throne in the entrance to the lower chamber of the Temple of the Jaguars at Chichén … © Ron Gatepain (A Britannica Publishing Partner) Britannica Stories Ringling Bros. Folds Its Tent Other structures include the High Priest’s Grave and the Colonnade (Thousand Columns) and the adjoining Temple of the Warriors. Most of these buildings probably were completed in the Early Post-Classic Period (c. 900–1200). In the Late Post-Classic Period (c. 1200–1540), Chichén appears to have been eclipsed by the rise of the city of Mayapán .

For a time Chichén Itzá joined Uxmal and Mayapán in a political confederacy known as the League of Mayapán. The Temple of the Warriors, Chichén Itzá, Yucatán, Mexico. © Pierrette Guertin/Fotolia Temple of the Warriors, Chichén Itzá, Yucatán, Mexico. © Ron Gatepain (A Britannica Publishing Partner) Colonnade (Thousand Columns) adjacent to the Temple of the Warriors at Chichén Itzá, … © Ron Gatepain (A Britannica Publishing Partner) Capitals & Cities: Fact or Fiction? About 1450 the League and the political supremacy of Mayapán dissolved. When the Spanish entered the country in the 16th century, the Maya were living in many small towns, but the major cities, including Chichén, were largely abandoned. Long left to the jungle, Chichén Itzá remained sacred to the Maya. Excavation began in the 19th century, and the site became one of Mexico’s prime archaeological zones.

A legendary tradition at Chichén was the Cult of the Cenote, involving human sacrifice to the rain god, in which victims were thrown into the city’s major cenote (at the northernmost part of the ruin), along with gold and jade ornaments and other valuables. In 1904 Edward Herbert Thompson , an American who had bought the entire site, began dredging the cenote; his discovery of skeletons and sacrificial objects confirmed the legend . Cenote of Sacrifice, natural well at Chichén Itzá, south-central Yucatán … D. Donne Bryant/D.Donne Bryant Stock Cenote at Chichén Itzá, Yucatán, Mexico. Emil Kehnel 11 References found in Britannica Articles Assorted References exploration by Thompson (in Edward Herbert Thompson ) sacrifices in worship (in cenote ) worship of Chac (in Chac ) architecture temples (in temple ) history of Chichén Itzá - Children's Encyclopedia (Ages 8-11) The city of Chichen Itza was once a center of culture and religion for the Maya people. Today the ruins of the city are a major archaeological site.

They are located on the Yucatan Peninsula in southern Mexico. The city’s name comes partly from two big cenotes, or wells, on the site. Chi means "mouths," chen means "wells," and Itza is the name of one Maya tribe that settled there. Chichén Itzá - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up) The ruined ancient Mayan city of Chichen Itza is located in southeastern Mexico, in the state of Yucatan. Today it is an archaeological area and a UNESCO World Heritage site. Among its ruins are many monumental stone buildings, richly ornamented with relief sculptures and Mayan hieroglyphics. Article History Corrections? Updates? Help us improve this article! Contact our editors with your feedback. MEDIA FOR: You have successfully emailed this. Error when sending the email. Try again later. Edit Mode Submit Tips For Editing We welcome suggested improvements to any of our articles. You can make it easier for us to review and, hopefully, publish your contribution by keeping a few points in mind. Encyclopædia Britannica articles are written in a neutral objective tone for a general audience. You may find it helpful to search within the site to see how similar or related subjects are covered.

Any text you add should be original, not copied from other sources. At the bottom of the article, feel free to list any sources that support your changes, so that we can fully understand their context. (Internet URLs are the best.) Your contribution may be further edited by our staff, and its publication is subject to our final approval. Unfortunately, our editorial approach may not be able to accommodate all contributions. Submit Thank You for Your Contribution! Our editors will review what you've submitted, and if it meets our criteria, we'll add it to the article. Please note that our editors may make some formatting changes or correct spelling or grammatical errors, and may also contact you if any clarifications are needed. Uh Oh There was a problem with your submission. Please try again later. Close Date Published: August 05, 2016 URL: Access Date: January 20, 2017 Share Chichen Itza -- World Heritage Site -- National Geographic Criteria: (i)(ii)(iii) Reason: The brilliant ruins of Chichén Itzá evidence a dazzling ancient city that once centered the Maya empire in Central America.

* * * The stepped pyramids, temples, columned arcades, and other stone structures of Chichén Itzá were sacred to the Maya and a sophisticated urban center of their empire from A.D. 750 to 1200. Viewed as a whole, the incredible complex reveals much about the Maya and Toltec vision of the universe—which was intimately tied to what was visible in the dark night skies of the Yucatán Peninsula. The most recognizable structure here is the Temple of Kukulkan, also known as El Castillo. This glorious step pyramid demonstrates the accuracy and importance of Maya astronomy—and the heavy influence of the Toltecs, who invaded around 1000 and precipitated a merger of the two cultural traditions. The temple has 365 steps—one for each day of the year. Each of the temple’s four sides has 91 steps, and the top platform makes the 365th. Devising a 365-day calendar was just one feat of Maya science. Incredibly, twice a year on the spring and autumn equinoxes, a shadow falls on the pyramid in the shape of a serpent.

As the sun sets, this shadowy snake descends the steps to eventually join a stone serpent head at the base of the great staircase up the pyramid’s side. The Maya’s astronomical skills were so advanced they could even predict solar eclipses, and an impressive and sophisticated observatory structure remains on the site today. This great city’s only permanent water source was a series of sinkhole wells. Spanish records report that young female victims were thrown into the largest of these, live, as sacrifices to the Maya rain god thought to live in its depths. Archaeologists have since found their bones, as well as the jewelry and other precious objects they wore in their final hours. Chichén Itzá's ball court is the largest known in the Americas, measuring 554 feet (168 meters) long and 231 feet (70 meters) wide. During ritual games here, players tried to hit a 12-pound (5.4-kilogram) rubber ball through stone scoring hoops set high on the court walls. Competition must have been fierce indeed—losers were put to death. Chichén Itzá was more than a religious and ceremonial site. It was also a sophisticated urban center and hub of regional trade.

But after centuries of prosperity and absorbing influxes of other cultures like the Toltecs, the city met a mysterious end. During the 1400s people abandoned Chichén Itzá to the jungle. Though they left behind amazing works of architecture and art, the city’s inhabitants left no known record of why they abandoned their homes. Scientists speculate that droughts, exhausted soils, and royal quests for conquest and treasure may have contributed to Chichén Itzá's downfall. Recently this World Heritage site was accorded another honor. In a worldwide vote Chichén Itzá was named one of the New Seven Wonders of the World. How to Get There Chichén Itzá is located near the small town of Piste. Bus services connect to the international airports at Mérida (under two hours) and Cancun (two and a half hours). When to Visit The ruins are open daily. Chichén Itzá's climate is consistently tropical—average temperatures are 93ºF (34ºC). Spring and autumn equinoxes offer the chance to see the incredible shadow serpent of El Castillo—but the often crowded site is absolutely packed at these times.

How to Visit Staying in the Chichén Itzá area allows visitors to visit early in the morning, out of the hot sun and without the company of the many tourists who arrive on day trip tours from Mérida and Cancun. There is also a light show on the site at night. Comment on This Story Chichen Itza: Maya Temples in the Yucatan Chichen Itza: Maya Temples in the Yucatan By Owen Jarus, Live Science Contributor | September 17, 2012 05:38pm ET MORE Credit: jgorzynik | shutterstock Chichen Itza is a city in Mexico’s Yucatan peninsula that thrived between the 9th and 13th centuries A.D. Although a wildly popular tourist attraction, archaeologists are still trying to figure out how this ancient urban center, more than 740 acres (300 hectares) in size, came to be. The city’s art and architecture show a blend of Maya and Toltec influences. It has these features even though the Toltec capital of Tula is about 800 miles (1,200 kilometers) away.

Making matters more complicated is that at a later point in the city’s history (the 13th century) a group called the Itza settled at the site. The name of the city means “the mouth of the well of the Itzas.” Maya sources tell a story of a man named K’uk’ulkan (feathered serpent) who came from the west and established his capital at Chichen Itza. Whether this story refers to Toltec groups or Itza groups, or is mainly mythical, is a matter of debate. In any event the monuments left behind by the city’s inhabitants are some of the most spectacular in the New World. The residential areas are not as well-explored but do include houses with columns. El Castillo At the heart of the city lies the step pyramid known as El Castillo (Spanish for the “castle”). A 16th-century Spanish bishop, Diego de Landa, referred to it as the “Temple of K’uk’ulcan,” the name of the legendary ruler of the city as well as an ancient snake deity.

When the temple at top is included, it rises about 100 feet (30 meters), with each side being 180 feet (55 meters) at the base. On each of the pyramid’s four sides are 91 steps, making 364 in total. When you add in the step taken to enter the temple the total number of steps comes to 365, the number of days in a year. “The corbel-vaulted temple at the summit of the four breathtaking stairways is a curious mixture of indigenous and foreign, Flower Mountain masks [a Maya feature] embellishing the exterior, reliefs of tall war captains from Tula [the Toltec capital] being carved upon the jambs of its doors,” writes archaeologist Michael Coe in his book "The Maya" (seventh edition, Thames & Hudson, 2005). Coe also notes that archaeologists have found the remains of an earlier pyramid beneath this one. Finds from that structure include a stone throne in the shape of a “snarling” red jaguar, with jade eyes and shells used for fangs. The Temple of the Warriors at Chichen Itza.

Credit: spirit of america shutterstock Temple of the Warriors Beside the pyramid, just to the east, lies the “Temple of the Warriors.” Rows of columns lead up to the structure’s stairway entrance, the heavy use of columns being a Toltec feature. When you climb the stairs you see a pair of feathered serpent statues, heads on the ground, gazing at you. You also see a statue of Chacmool, a legendary messenger of the gods. The statue is in a reclining position, his stomach being flat, it’s been speculated that the flat area may have been used to sacrifice a human heart. Caracol To the south of the pyramid lies a snail-shaped building that appears to have been used as an observatory by the city’s inhabitants; the Spanish named it the “Caracol” (snail). Its four entrances lead to a narrow passageway that “coils upward like the shell of a snail” leading to a chamber with three surviving windows, writes archaeo-astronomer Anthony Aveni in his book "Empires of Time: Calendars, Clocks and Cultures" (I.B Tauris, 2000).

El Caracol observatory at Chichen Itza. Aveni points out that the building is aligned to Venus and “according to Spanish chroniclers, the Caracol’s round shape symbolized Quetzalcoatl-Kukulcan, the Venus deity,” the planet being of particular religious importance to the ancient Maya. The great ball court To the west of the pyramid lies the great ball court, the largest in Mesoamerica. Bound by small temples at either end, it runs for 490 feet (149 meters), longer than a modern-day American football field. Much of the court is encompassed by walls 27 feet (8 meters) high and about 99 feet (30 meters) apart. Each wall has a vertical ring, decorated with intertwined serpents, which is about 20 feet (6 meters) off the ground. That’s twice the height of a modern-day NBA basketball net. The ancient players would have used a small rubber ball to play. It’s not known what the rules were but the players likely had to get it through the opposing team’s ring.

Panels near the ball court depict skulls on racks and one depiction shows a person (possibly a player from the winning or losing team) being sacrificed, his blood turning into serpents as it leaves his body. Sacred cenote North of the pyramid lies a causeway 900 feet (274 meters) long that leads to a deep well that is known today as the Sacred Cenote. People (as human sacrifices) and artifacts (including items made of gold) were tossed down into it. The practice appears to have reached its peak after the city went into decline in the 13th century.

Bishop Landa wrote (in translation) that “into this well they have had, and then had, the custom of throwing men alive as a sacrifice to the gods, in times of drought, and they believed that they did not die though they never saw them again ...” Welcome to Duende Tours Welcome to Duende Tours You can now book your tours directly with our customer team: - tours[at]onejungle.com - whatsapp: +521 987 100 8848 Find our excellent reviews on Tripadvisor: Our world class tours include: - Whale Sharks from Cozumel, Playa, Cancun and the Riviera Maya - Whale Sharks by Air from Cozumel - Chichen Itza by Air from Cancun and Cozumel - Chichen Itza by private van from Cozumel, Cancun and the Riviera Maya - Cozumel Private Birding American Egypt / Ancient Cities of the Maya Chichen Itza The Great City of the Maya The grand, ancient city of Chichen Itza sits in the strategic center of the Yucatan Peninsula.

Every year more than a million tourists visit the so-called archaeological zone, bounded by the notorious Sacred Well (Cenote Sagrado) to the north and Las Monjas, the Nunnery, to the south. The actual city may have covered more than 25 square kilometers, and many buildings and monuments outside the primary zone, most notably in Chichen Viejo (Old Chichen) to the south, have been excavated by archaeologists (although not open to the public). Maya History of Chichen Itza There is no record of when Chichen Itza was first settled. The early chroniclers write that one of the original names of the settlement had been Wuk Yabna. As a city, Chichen Itza rose to prominence roughly 600 AD. There are several buildings dated in the 9th century that are constructed in the "Puuc" style, refering to Maya civilization from the hills surrounding Campeche.

According to the Chilam Balam, chronicles written by the Maya but after the Conquest, a group of Maya foreigners called the Itza took over the city, and eventually the city took their name ("Chichen Itza" is Maya for "in the mouth of the well of the Itza"). the Itza "spoke our language brokenly." Several archaeologists have suggested that the Chontal Maya, who speak a dialect of Maya, best fit the description of the Itza. The Chontal Maya came from what is today southern Campeche and Tabasco, and would have interacted with the Mexican tribes to the northwest, as suggested by the early chronicles. The city became the most prominent city on the Yucatan Peninsula, and was the driving political and commercial force in the region for 300 years. During this period a group of foreigners today called the "Toltecs," possibly led by a man named Kukulcan (the Maya version of Quetzalcoaltl), took over Chichen. These people remade Chichen in their own image, introducing a new style of architecture and pottery.

It is not known if they were related to the Itza, or even whether they preceded or antedated the Itza at Chichen. Chichen Itza was well known among the Maya for its Sacred Well, into which the Maya sacrificed men, women, children, and objects of great value. When the city went into decline around 1200 AD, and was abandoned, the chroniclers write Maya personages from around Yucatan would make pilgrimages to the Sacred Well. Under Spanish Rule When the Spanish first tried to conquer the interior of Yucatan in 1543, they marched through the thick jungle and took Chichen Itza with the intention of establishing a Spanish capital there. Led by Francisco Montejo, the soldiers held the city for several months, and divided its lands among 100 Spanish. They built a series of houses in the Maya style, and began plans to build a great city on the bones of the old one. Before that could happen, the Maya rose up and over a series of several weeks, broke the Spanish supply lines and eventually starved out Montejo and his men.

The Spanish forces were forced to flee to the coast and eventually abandon, for a time, their plans of conquering Yucatan. Montejo later returned, and by pitting one group of Maya against another, brought the indigenous people under Spanish rule. This time the Spanish established a capital closer to the coast, at T'Ho, which was renamed Merida, Every significant Maya building was torn down and its stone recycled to make Spanish buildings. The territory was divided into haciendas, including the city of Chichen Itza, whose ruins became a cattle ranch. The future bishop of Yucatan, Diego de Landa, visited Chichen Itza in the early years after the conquest. He described the Maya rituals of sacrifice into the Sacred Well and theorized that if there was gold to be found Yucatan, it would be in that well. Modern History Chichen Itza became famous following a visit in the early 1840s by American writer John Lloyd Stephens, who along with an English artist, Frederick Catherwood, published a bestselling book about the region and its ruins, Incidents of Travel in Yucatan.

Over the next half century, Chichen Itza received visits from several prominent explorers, such as Alfred Maudslay, Teobert Maler and Desire Charnay. In 1894, the American consul in Yucatan, Edward H. Thompson , purchased the Hacienda Chichen which included the ruins of Chichen Itza. For the next 15 years, Thompson explored the breadth of the ancient city, including a significant excavation of the Ossario , and, his most famous (and infamous) accomplishment, the dredging of the Sacred Cenote, in which he found gold and other valuables, confirming de Landa's assertion. In 1926, almost 20 years after the dredging, the Mexican government went after Thompson, charging him with theft. It seized Chichen Itza, which at the time was being reconstructed by the Carnegie Institution (see below) and by the government. The case crawled through the courts, but in 1944 the Mexican Supreme Court ruled in Thompson's favor.

He had been dead for almost 10 years, so the title to Chichen reverted to his heirs, who in turn sold it to the Barbachano family, which owns Chichen Itza today. Carnegie to Today Beginning in 1924, the Carnegie Institution of Washington, D.C., reconstructed several buildings at Chichen Itza, notably the Temple of Warriors and El Caracol , the Maya observatory. At the same time the Mexican government restored El Castillo , the great pyramid, and the Great Ball Court . The year before the state of Yucatan completed a highway to Chichen Itza, beginning a wave of tourism that continues to grow every year. The Carnegie discontinued its operation at Chichen in 1944. In 1939, the Mexican government formed INAH, an agency in charge of the nation's patrimony, including sites such as Chichen Itza. Although Chichen is on private property, the monuments belong to the people, and are managed and maintained by INAH. Over the decades, as the budget allows, INAH restores more and more of Chichen Itza. Most recently it completed a restoration of Akab Dzib , behind the Caracol.

For tourist and other visitor information on visiting Chichen Itza, click the Visitor Guide links above. Chichen Itza Facts Chichen Itza Facts Chichen Itza, Mexico The Location of Chichen Itza Approximately 25 miles (120 kilometers) southeast of the city of Merida stand the ruins of Chichen Itza, the most famous of the Maya archaeological sites in the state of Yucatan. Contrary to popular belief, the Maya were not an empire but a collection of autonomous city-states in frequent communication with other city-states in their region. Chichen Itza and numerous other important Maya temple-cities were positioned according to a regional sacred geography. The Maya practiced sacred geography on a large regional scale by the placement of their temple-cities at specific sites that mirrored the positions of various celestial objects observed in the night sky. History of the Maya Ruins at Chichen Itza Who built Chichen Itza? The Maya were an ancient civilization of southern Mexico and the Central American countries of Guatemala, Honduras Belize and El Salvador. Today there are an estimated 6 million Maya living in these regions and speaking a variety of Maya languages.

During the first millennium AD the Maya keenly observed and mapped the movements of the sun, moon, planets and stars. These celestial objects were incorporated into a complex cosmology and mythology that explained the past and predicted the future. The Maya developed a brilliant mathematical system, the only true writing system known in the Americas, and a series of three precise and interrelating calendars. The Maya are famous for their grand temple-cities of Chichen Itza, Palenque, Uxmal, Tikal and Copan, as well as many others. Some of these temple-cities have been excavated and reconstructed by archaeologists while many others are still in their unexcavated state. The Maya built their sophisticated and highly decorated ceremonial architecture, including temple-pyramids, palaces and observatories apparently without the use the wheel. While no physical evidence has yet been found of the Mayan use of large wheels for transportation purposes numerous toys have been discovered that do have wheels, therefore it cannot be categorically stated that the Maya did not use larger wheels. The Maya were highly skilled potters, weavers, sculptors and jewelers.

They developed an extensive trade network through the jungles and along the eastern and western coasts of Yucatan and Central America. Through these trade networks they were able to obtain resources from distant areas such as obsidian from central Mexico and gold from Central America. Because no metal cutting tools have thus far been found at any of the Maya ruins it has been generally assumed that the Maya did not use such tools. However, archaeological opinion has shifted during the past few decades regarding this matter. There are several reasons why. One is the intricacy of Maya jewelry, which would have required the smelting and mixing of different metals as well as the use of metal tools, probably bronze, for fashioning the jewelry. Even though no archaeological finds have confirmed that the Maya had bronze tools, it is highly unlikely that during the many centuries the Maya smelted copper in crucibles, they would not have discovered that adding a small amount of tin would produce hard bronze for their tools. Use of metal is also indicated by the boat-making technology of the seafaring Chontal Maya.

These people, who lived in the coastal regions of northern, western and eastern Yucatan, are known to have built large canoes with which they sailed throughout the Caribbean Islands, along the Mexican coasts and to southern Florida. The precision craftsmanship evident in these canoes - known from eyewitness accounts by early Spanish explorers - could only have been done with metal cutting tools. Besides their ability to construct boats the Mayan accomplishments in mathematics and astronomy enabled them to develop a sophisticated method of celestial navigation for their overseas voyages. When was Chichen Itza built? Proto-Mayan tribes had inhabited the flat limestone plateau that makes up much of the Yucatan peninsula for at least 8000 years. Archaeologists believe that the site where the temple-city of Chichen Itza would later be built was already an important pilgrimage place in the first millennium B.C. As a Maya social center, Chichen Itza began its rise to prominence with the arrival of a seafaring people in the eighth century. Called the Itza by archaeologists, these merchant warriors had first colonized the northern coastal areas of the Yucatan peninsula and then ventured inland.

One of their first major settlement sites was in the vicinity of two large, natural sinkholes, called cenotes that provided plentiful and pure water throughout the year. Their city became known as Chichen Itza, which means "Mouth of the Well of the Itza". From this site, the Itza Maya rapidly became the rulers of much of the Yucatan peninsula. Chichen Itza rose to regional prominence towards the end of what is called the Early Classic period, or approximately 600 AD. It was, however, towards the end of the Late Classic and into the early part of the Terminal Classic that the site became a major regional capitol, centralizing and dominating political, sociocultural, economic, and ideological life in the northern Maya lowlands. During the Central Phase of the Classic Period (625 - 800 A.D.) the arts and sciences flourished. It was at this time that Chichen-Itza became a religious center of increasing importance and many of its greatest buildings were constructed.

Toward the end of the Classic Period, from 800 to 925 A.D., the foundations of this magnificent civilization weakened, and the Maya left many of their major religious centers and the rural land around them. New, smaller centers were built and the great cities like Chichen-Itza were mostly visited only to perform religious rites or bury the dead. The Itza people abandoned their city by the end of the 8th century A.D. and lived on the west coast of the peninsula for about 250 years. However, by the 10th century A.D. they returned to Chichen-Itza. Some ethnohistoric sources claim that in about 987 a Toltec king named Quetzalcoatl left the city of Tula in central Mexico and came to Chichen Itza with a large army. With the help of local Maya allies he captured the city and made it his new capital. While some archaeology and history books still ascribe to this claim, it is now known that the Maya occupied Chichen Itza continuously.

The Toltec influences found in the art and architecture of certain areas of the great city were the result of the patronage of a cosmopolitan nobility involved in trade with the Toltecs and other Mesoamerican peoples. Around 1000 A.D. the Itza allied themselves with other powerful regional tribes and this alliance was favorable to the Itza for about two centuries. During this time, the people of Chichen-Itza added to the site by constructing magnificent buildings bearing the touch of Toltec art: porches, galleries, colonnades and carvings depicting serpents, birds and Mexican gods. In 1194, the city of Mayapan broke the alliance and subdued Chichen Itza. The city was gradually abandoned. The Maya chronicles record that in 1221 a revolt and civil war broke out, and archaeological evidence seemed to confirm that the wooden roofs of the great market and the Temple of the Warriors were burned at about this date. Chichen Itza went into decline as rulership over Yucatan shifted to Mayapan. This long-held chronology, however, has been revised in recent years.

As more radiocarbon dates arise out of ongoing work at Chichen Itza, the end of this Maya capital is now being pushed back over 200 years. Archaeological data now indicates that Chichen Itza fell by around AD 1000. While Chichen Itza itself was never completely abandoned, the population declined and no major new constructions were built following its political collapse. The Sacred Cenote, however, remained a place of pilgrimage. In 1531 Spanish Conquistador Francisco de Montejo claimed Chichén Itzá and intended to make it the capital of Spanish Yucatan, but after a few months a native Maya revolt drove Montejo and his forces from the land. The Buildings of Chichen Itza and their purposes El Castillo, the Pyramid of Kukulkan The Temple of Kukulkan, the Feathered Serpent God (also known as Quetzalcoatl to the Toltecs and Aztecs) is the largest and most important ceremonial structure at Chichen Itza. The early Spaniards called it El Castillo, meaning the Castle. The pyramid, however, bears no resemblance to a castle and was instead used for religious and astronomical observation purposes.

The ninety-foot tall pyramid was built during the 11th to 13th centuries directly upon the foundations of previous temples. The architecture of the pyramid encodes precise information regarding the Mayan calendar and is directionally oriented to mark the solstices and equinoxes. Each face of the four-sided structure has a stairway with ninety-one steps, which together with the shared step of the platform at the top, add up to 365, the number of days in a year. Mesoamerican cultures periodically built larger pyramids atop older ones, and the Temple of Kukulkan is one such example. In the mid 1930s, the Mexican government sponsored an excavation into the pyramid. After several false starts, they discovered a staircase under the north side of the pyramid. By digging from the top, they found another temple buried below the current one. Inside the temple chamber was a Chac Mool statue (The Chac-Mool depicts a human figure in a position of reclining with the head up and turned to one side, holding a tray over the stomach.

The meaning of the position or the statue itself remains unknown) and a throne in the shape of jaguar, painted red with spots made of inlaid jade. After installing a set of bars and a locked gate to protect the jaguar figure they allowed tourists to come and view it, but in 2006 the tunnel leading to the temple chamber was closed to all but archaeologists. The northern stairway of the pyramid was the principal sacred path leading to the summit. At sunset on the vernal and autumnal equinoxes, interplay between the sun's light and the edges of the stepped terraces on the pyramid creates a fascinating - and very brief - shadow display upon the sides of the northern stairway. A serrated line of seven interlocking triangles gives the impression of a long tail leading downward to the stone head of the serpent Kukulkan, at the base of the stairway. Adjacent to the head of Kukulkan, a doorway leads to an interior staircase ending at the small shrine with the statue of the Chac Mool.

Studies by archaeoastronomers have revealed that other structures at Chichen Itza also have significant astronomical alignments, such as the Caracol observatory, which indicates key positions of the planet Venus, particularly its southern and northern horizon extremes. The Grand Cenote Northern Yucatan is arid, and the interior has no aboveground rivers. The only sources of water are the natural sinkholes called cenotes. Some of these are small, while others are large such as the two at Chichen Itza. Of the two Chichen cenotes, the larger, the "Cenote Sagrado" or Sacred Cenote, is the more famous. According to post-Conquest sources (both Maya and Spanish), the pre-Columbian Maya threw sacrificial objects and human beings into the cenote as a form of worship to Chaac, the Maya rain god. When archaeologists dredged the Cenote of Sacrifice, they found various types of offerings, including jade carvings, pottery, gold and silver artifacts and even human skeletons. The cenote was also considered by the Maya to be an entrance to the underworld and it is believed that the sacrificial victims were venerating Chac Mool by entering this underworld.

The Caracol celestial observatory The Observatory at Chichén Itzá is called El Caracol (or snail in Spanish) because it has an interior staircase that spirals upward like a snail's shell. The first structure was probably built during the transition period of the late 9th century and consisted of a large rectangular platform with a stairway on its west side. A round tower of about 48 feet high was built atop the platform, with a solid lower body, a central portion with two circular galleries and a spiral staircase and an observation chamber on the top. Later, a circular and then a rectangular platform were added. The round, concentrically-vaulted Caracol was built and rebuilt several times during its time of use in order to calibrate its astronomical observation capacity. The windows in the Caracol point in the cardinal and subcardinal directions and are believed to enable the tracking of the movement of Venus, the Pleiades, the sun and the moon and other celestial objects. The Ball Court Chichen Itza is also famous for its Great Ball Court with stone rings 20 feet high upon two its walls.

The ball court has no vault, no discontinuity between the walls and is totally open to the sky. Each of the northern, southern and eastern sides supports temples, which were probably used for rituals on the days when the sacred games were played. Various groups in similar ball courts throughout Mesoamerica played several different ball games. The most widespread game was with a rubber ball and, according to the paintings at various sites, players used their hips to keep the ball in the air as long as possible. Points were gained when the ball was gotten through the stone rings and onto the opposing players’ part of the courtyard. There were sloping benches on the sides of the court and they were probably used to help keep the ball in play. They are carved with reliefs of the victory celebrations. One of the scenes, the beheading of a player in center field witnessed by the players of both teams, is one of the most dramatic examples of Maya art. The scene not only illustrates the danger faced by the players but also the sacred importance of the game. At one time it was believed that the losers were destined to die but researchers have proposed new theories.

Some think that the captain of the winning team was sacrificed since his team's triumph made him a fitting offering to the gods. Although played for sport and for wagers the ball game had a definite religious significance. In the Maya creation story, the Popol Vuh, the divine twin heroes play this same game for their lives against the lords of the underworld. Another fascinating though seldom discussed mystery at Chichen Itza concerns the strange acoustic anomalies observable at the great ball court and the temple of Kukulkan. Words softly whispered at one end of the great ball court (measuring 545 feet long by 225 feet wide) are clearly audible all the way at the other end and a single clap or shout sounded in the center of the ball court will produce nine distinct echoes. Visitors have also commented on a curious acoustic phenomenon at the pyramid of Kukulkan where the sound of a hand clap is echoed back as the chirping sound of the Quetzal bird, the sacred bird associated with both the name of the pyramid and its deity Kukulkan, also known as Quetzalcoatl.

Tourism at Chichen Itza Chichén Itzá entered the popular imagination in 1843 with the book Incidents of Travel in Yucatan by John Lloyd Stephens and Frederick Catherwood. The book recounted Stephens’ visit to Yucatan and his tour of Maya cities, including Chichén Itzá. The book prompted several other explorations of the city, including that of Desire Charnay in 1860, Augustus Le Plongeon in 1875, Edward Thompson in 1894, and Sylvanus Morley in 1913. Fernando Barbachano Peon (a grandnephew of a former Yucatan Governor Miguel Barbachano), started Yucatán’s first official tourism business in the early 1920s. In 1944 he purchased the entire site of Chichen Itza and constructed a hotel, which gave further impetus to the growing tourist visitation of the ruins. In 1961 and 1967 there were more expeditions to recover artifacts from the Cenote Sagrado. The first was sponsored by the National Geographic, and the second by private interests.

Both projects were supervised by Mexico's National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH). In 1972, Mexico enacted the Federal Law over Monuments and Archeological, Artistic and Historic Sites (Ley Federal Sobre Monumentos y Zonas Arqueológicas, Artísticas e Históricas) that put all the nation's pre-Columbian monuments, including those at Chichen Itza, under federal ownership. Today the ruins of Chichen Itza are federal property, and the site’s stewardship is maintained by Mexico’s National Institute of Anthropology and History. The Barbachano family, however, privately owns the land under the monuments. In the 1980s, Chichen Itza began to receive an influx of visitors on the day of the spring equinox. At that time thousands of people come to see the light-and-shadow effect on the Temple of Kukulcan in which the feathered serpent god supposedly can be seen to crawl down the side of the pyramid. Over the past several years, INAH, which manages the site, has been closing monuments to public access. While visitors can walk around them, they can no longer climb them or go inside their chambers.

The most recent was the El Castillo Temple of Kukulkan, which was closed after a San Diego, California woman fell to her death in 2006. Chichen Itza, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is the second-most visited of Mexico's archaeological sites. The archaeological site draws many visitors from the popular tourist resort of Cancún, who make a day trip on tourist buses. Maps of Chichen Itza are available at the visitor’s center next to the ruins and there is a fine sound and light show in the evenings. Group and private tour guides are also available. Chichen Itza - Ancient History Encyclopedia Chichen Itza by Mark Cartwright published on 26 September 2014 Chichen Itza , located at the northern tip of the Yucatán Peninsula of modern Mexico, was a Maya city which was later significantly influenced by the Toltec civilization . Flourishing between c. 750 and 1200 CE, the site is rich in monumental architecture and sculpture which promote themes of militarism and displays imagery of jaguars, eagles, and feathered-serpents.

Probably a capital city ruling over a confederacy of neighbouring states, Chichen Itza was one of the great Mesoamerican cities and remains today one of the most popular tourist sites in Mexico. Historical Overview The name Chichen Itza probably derives from a large sinkhole known as the Sacred Cenote or 'mouth of the well of the Itza' into which the Maya threw offerings of jade and gold , and as the presence of bones testifies, human sacrifices. The early history of the site is still not clear, but settlement was certain by the Classic period (c. 250-900 CE). With the collapse of Teotihuacan , migrants may have come to the site from varying parts of Mesoamerica, and it seems likely there was contact with the Itza, a Maya group. A second period of construction seems to coincide with influence from the Toltec civilization . That Chichen Itza was a thriving trade centre with a port at Isla Cerritos is evidenced by finds of goods from elsewhere in Central America, for example, turquoise from the north, gold disks from the south, and obsidian from the Isthmus of Tehuantepec.

The cultivation of cacao is known, and the city may have controlled the lucrative salt beds on the nearby northern coast. Advertisement Dominating Chichen Itza is the huge Pyramid of Kukulcan, also known as the Castillo. The city has been traditionally divided into two distinct parts and periods, even if there is some overlap both in time and design, and together they cover some 16 square kilometres. The earliest, in the south, is native Maya dating to the Epiclassic period (c. 800-1000 CE) with buildings displaying the distinct 'Puuc' architectural style and Maya hieroglyphs. The plan is more spread out than other parts of the city and, constructed on a roughly north-south axis, may reflect the course of the Xtoloc Cenote water source. The second part of the city has been traditionally dated to 1000-1200 CE and is more mysterious, creating one of the most contentious debates in Mesoamerican archaeology .

Built in the Florescent style and along a more ordered plan, it displays many hallmarks of the Toltec civilization, leading scholars to believe that they either conquered Chichen Itza as they expanded their empire from their capital Tula over 1,000 km away, or there was some sort of cultural and trade sharing between the two centres. Common features between the two cities found in architecture and relief sculpture include warrior columns, quetzal-feathered rattlesnakes, the clothing of subjects, chacmools (sacrificial basins in the form of a reclining person), atlantides (support columns in the form of standing males), the representation of certain animals, a tzompantli (sacrificial skull rack), Tlaloc (the rain god) incense burners, and personal names represented by glyphs which are present at both sites but which are not Maya. Alternative to the two-period view, the Americas historian George Kubler divides the buildings of Chichen Itza into three distinct phases: prior to 800 CE, from 800 to 1050 CE, and 1050-1200 CE.

Kubler adds that the latter stage saw the addition of ornate narrative reliefs to many of the buildings at the site. It has also been suggested that due to various styles of architecture pre-dating those found at the Toltec capital Tula, it may actually have been Chichen Itza which influenced the Toltec rather than the reverse. The exact relationship between the two cultures has yet to be ascertained for certain, and there are certainly other Mesoamerican (but non-Toltec) architectural and artistic features at Chichen Itza which are evidence of an influence from other sites such as Xochicalco and El Tajin . Remove Ads Advertisement Chichen Itza fell into a rapid decline from 1200 CE, and Mayapán became the new capital. However, unlike many other sites, Chichen Itza never disappeared from memory, and the city continued to be revered and esteemed as a place of ancestry and pilgrimage into the Postclassic period and up to the Spanish conquest , and even beyond. Architectural Highlights The earlier section of Chichen Itza displays many Classic Maya traits. The Temple of the Three Lintels, for example, has Chahk masks at each corner.

Other structures include two small temples built on raised platforms, known as the Red House and the House of the Deer, and a pyramid known as the High Priest's Grave , named after the discovery of a tomb within it. There is also the 7th century CE Red House with its bloodletting frieze, the Nunnery with its carvings of the rain god Chac, and the small temple known as the Iglesia. All are Classic period structures. The Caracol The Caracol is one of the most impressive monuments at the site. It was constructed prior to 800 CE and was used as an astronomical observatory, especially of Venus , and perhaps was also a temple to Kukulcan in his guise as the god of the winds. A large flight of stairs on two levels leads to the circular tower structure which has windows not aligned with the steps giving the illusion the tower is turning. The interior vaulting may have been designed to represent a conch shell (an object associated with Kukulcan), and a spiral staircase gives access to the second floor. The vault is over 10 m high, the largest such Maya structure.

The building as it is seen today was probably a result of remodelling to incorporate Toltec design features. Chichen Itza - The Ultimate Guide Special Offer: Chichen Itza Full-Day Trip from Cancun Book Now Chichen Itza From Above Chichen Itza Ruins Chichen Itza is the most famous of all the great Mayan cities. This is somewhat ironic because its most famous structures do not have a typical Classic Mayan architecture but show strong influences from other civilizations from Central Mexico. It is also the most developed of the many Mayan ruins and can get crowded. But the combination of grant scale monuments and the mysterious precise astronomical calculation in the buildings make the Chichen Itza ruins truly amazing. The Maya name “Chich’en Itza” means “At the mouth of the well of the Itza”. This well is probably the Sacred Cenote, one of two large natural sink holes found at the site. Itzá is the name of an ethnical Maya group that may have originated from the city of Motul de San José near lake Peten Itza in Guatemala. Itza means ‘enchanted waters’ and may refer to this lake.

From there they migrated to Yucatan during the Maya collapse at the end of the Classic Period. After Chichen Itza collapsed itself centuries later they left the Yucatán region and returned south again to build the city of Tayasal (modern-day Flores) on a small island in Lake Petén Itzá. Notes on Chichen Itza By Edit Grof-Tisza, December 2010 Pyramid of Kulkulcan at Chichen Itza. Photo credit Edit Grof-Tisza Chichén Itzá’s history is full of fascinating events, features and facts concerning its origin, location, and the structure of the city. Its past contains a little bit of mystery (especially regarding the abandonment of the city), but its present – with its magnificent restored monuments – still provides opportunity to admire the greatness of the ancient Maya. Chichén Itzá was a Maya religious center on the Yucatán Peninsula. It was built on a limestone plain next to two natural wells, called cenotes, which probably made the area more favorable for settling. According to the Maya writings in the Books of Chilam Balam, by the tenth century nautical people had reached the Yucatán Peninsula.

As to who these foreigners were, different theories have been developed. According to one theory, one of these groups, the Putún Maya, had a branch called the Itzá, who ventured inland by 918 AD (Lawana Hooper Trout, The Maya (1991), 67). Another theory assumed that the Putún Maya and the Itzá were not the same group but had just arrived along one another from the Gulf Coast state of Tabasco, or maybe they were allied with the Toltecs from Tula (Lila Perl, The Ancient Maya (2005), 66). Whatever their origin though, they settled by the bigger of the previously mentioned natural wells, the great cenote, which was known as "Wuk Yabnal" (Abundance Place) ( Sacred Sites: Places of Peace and Power ). The name “Chichén Itzá” means “Opening/mouth of the well of the Itzá” and refers to the Itzá people and the location where they settled. Chichén Itzá became one of the most influential Maya states in Mesoamerica and remained that until about the twelfth century. The location played a very important role in the establishment of this Maya center.

The great well or Sacred Cenote was significant not only because it was one of the few water resources for the people, but also because it served as a key sacred site. The Maya threw valuable things (made of gold, jade, obsidian, copper, ceramic, etc.) in the well as well as human sacrifices (mainly children and men). The offerings were made to the Maya gods, particularly to Chaak, the Rain God. This natural well was almost perfectly round, its diameter almost 200 feet, and the deepest part a little less than 270 ft. ( Chichen Itza – Cenote Sagrado ). Even after the abandonment of the city as a political center around the beginning of the twelfth century, the well remained a pilgrimage center until after the Spanish conquest (Lynn Foster, Handbook to Life in the Ancient Maya World (2002), 106). The structure of Chichén Itzá resembled the other city-states in the Maya Kingdom with a large urban center and surrounding farming communities. The urban center contained pyramids, temples, and great monuments.

Chichén Itzá was originally built in the classical Mayan style between the seventh and tenth centuries ce, then later Mayan-Toltec elements and architectural pieces were added between the tenth and thirteenth centuries ce (Gail Bellenger, The Mayan City of Chichen Itza ). At its peak, the city's area covered about six square miles. Though most of the structures were destroyed in wars and/or lost to the hands of time, about thirty remained for people to see in present days. Ruins from the former period contained lesser-known buildings like the Nunnery or the Church (La Iglésia), while the later period left very well-known structures, like El Castillo (the Pyramid of Kulkulcan), the Caracol Observatory, or the Great Ball Court. One of the most famous structures of Chichén Itzá is without a doubt the Pyramid of Kulkulcan or El Castillo (see above). It was built on the foundations of other temples between the eleventh and thirteenth centuries (Kulkulcan is the Maya name for the god Quetzalcoatl, “Feathered Serpent”). The pyramid is 24 meters tall, ending in a flat platform.

On top of this, there is a two-story temple, which adds another 6 meters in height. The pyramid was essentially a nine-step structure, with a wide, steep staircase on each of the four sides, each containing 91 steps. The four sets of 91 steps added together with the platform total 365--the number of days in a year. Some Maya structures were built in a way to either line up with the sun or stars, or to be suitable to study the sky. El Castillo was lined up with the path of the sun in such a way that on the vernal and autumnal equinoxes a shadow on the northern stairway is cast by the setting sun on the edge of the nine-level staircase (Irene Flum Galvin, The Ancient Maya (1997), 34). The shadow lines up with the snake head on the bottom of the pyramid, which creates the image of a snake slithering down. The Caracol Observatory (see below) is an example of how important it was to the ancient Maya to observe the movements of the sun, moon and the stars. The Caracol was built so that the Maya could make precise measurements of the position of Venus.

The name of the structure means “snail,” referring to the spiral staircase inside it. One of the fascinating facts about this observatory is that it is the only round structure found around at the site. The observatory “worked” the following way: “the narrow slots built into the observation tower of El Caracol accurately align with the location of Venus when it reaches the horizon at the most northerly and southerly extremes of its path through the sky. Another window was used to track the horizon position of the sun at sunset” (Karen M. Strom, El Caracol . In Chichén Itzá (like in other city-states) the Maya played ritual ball games, which were called “pok-a-tok”. The city had a minimum of seven ball courts (some sources mention 12, 13 or even 22), among them is the Great Ball court (see image further below), which was the biggest one in Mesoamerica, measuring 545 by 223 ft. (Nancy Day, Your Travel Guide to the Ancient Maya (2001), 29).

The interesting thing about the Great Ball Court, besides its size, is that its walls were not slanted like any other ball court, but vertical. The stone ring through which the players had to get the ball was located toward the top, about 23 feet above the ground. The game was played with a small, heavy rubber ball which the players were not allowed to touch with their hands or their feet. The ancient Maya did not play this ball game as a sport. It was part of a religious ritual with the losers losing their lives (they were often sacrificed). According to other theories, the captain of the winning team was the one who got the “honor” to get decapitated and sacrificed. The seriousness of this game was depicted on the relief sculptures at the base of the Great Ball Court, in which the captain of the winning team was holding the cut-off head of the captain of the losing team (or vice versa, depending on which theory was the “correct” one). Chichén Itzá’s history, however great it may have been, has left some questions unanswered. One of these mysteries is why the Maya abandoned their cities (including Chichén Itzá).

There are some ideas what might have caused them to leave but nothing has been proven conclusively. One speculation is that the population grew, and there was not enough food to support the cities (Jane Shuter, The Maya (2009), 30). Others believe that war was the reason, or perhaps the Maya simply just repeated the pattern of earlier times when they left their cities and moved to new areas (Irene Flum Galvin, The Ancient Maya (1997), 15). Whatever their reason, the Maya left, and many of their impressive buildings deteriorated or got destroyed. Fortunately some of these constructions and monuments have been restored by the Mexican Government and the Carnegie Foundation. Chichén Itzá’s history contains many intriguing theories about the origin, location, and the architecture of the city. Its past is also somewhat mystical, which makes it all the more interesting. As a UNESCO World Heritage Site today, this once great city-state, with its grand structures, still reflects the magnitude of the achievements of the ancient Maya. El Caracol (The Astronomical Observatory) at Chichen Itza. Photo credit Edit Grof-Tisza See some more Chichén Itzá images .

Bibliography Coe, Michael D. The Maya. New York: Thames & Hudson, 2005 Day, Nancy. Your Travel Guide to Ancient Mayan Civilization. Minneapolis: Runestone Press, 2001 Foster, Lynn V. Handbook to Life in the Ancient Maya World. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2002 Galvin, Irene Flum. The Ancient Maya. Tarrytown, NY: Benchmark Books, 1997 Hinsdale, Joshua Eden. Playa Del Carmen, Tulum &the Riviera Maya. Woodstock, VT: The Countryman Press, 2009 Hutchison, Peter. Central America & Mexico Handbook. USA: Globe Pequot Press, 2009 Maloy, Jackie. The Ancient Maya. New York: Children’s Press, 2009 Peppas, Lynn. Life in Ancient Mesoamerica. New York: Crabtree Publishing Company, 2005 Perl, Lila. The Ancient Maya. USA: Franklin Watts, 2005 Scholl, Elizabeth. How?d They Do That? in The Mayan Civilization.

USA: Mitchell Lane Publishers, Inc., 2010 Shuter, Jane. The Maya. Chicago: Heinemann Library, 2009 Takacs, Stefanie. The Maya. USA: Scholastic, Inc., 2003 Trout, Lawana, Hooper. The Maya. USA: Chelsea House Publishers, 1991 This is the stone ring at the center of the Great Ball Court (the game that the Maya played) at Chichen Itza. Photo credit Edit Grof-Tisza Maya Pyramids of Chichen Itza Maya Pyramids of Chichen Itza Why did the Maya abandon their magnificent city of Chichen Itza? Maya Pyramids of Chichen Itza Why did the Maya abandon their magnificent city of Chichen Itza? Share Link

Question: What ancient society built the city of Chichen Itza?
Answer: The Mayans