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Chichen Itza in Yucatan, Mexico

Chichen Itza in Yucatan, Mexico

Chichen Itza (Chichén Itzá) is the site of which civilization. Chichen Itza is the ruins of an ancient Mayan city located in the east-central Yucatan state of Mexico. It is 3 kilometers long from north to south and 2 kilometers wide from east to west. There are hundreds of buildings. It is the ruins of ancient Mayan culture and Toltec culture.

Introduction

“Qiqin” means “well head”, and the natural well is the foundation of the city. The existing road divides it in half. The old Chichen Itza on the south side was built in the 7th to the 10th century AD and has the characteristics of Mayan culture, including pyramid temples, pillar halls, stadiums, markets and astronomical observatories. Gray buildings with Toltec cultural characteristics, including Kukulkan Pyramid, Warrior Temple, etc., are mainly decorated with simple lines and stucco carvings of the Quetzalcoatl God.

Chichen Itza is a remarkable stone city built in Yucatan, Mexico. Some of the oldest buildings and pyramids in it date back 1,500 years and were built by the Toltec and Mayans.

Chichen Itza consists of stone buildings, temples and courtyards. A huge “human sacrifice stadium” sits at one end of the city. (A very special game of “human sacrifice” in which two teams try to kick the ball through iron rings at each end of the field. Afterwards, the captain of the winning team is beheaded as an offering to the gods.) Although the city Historically damaged by time and predators, there are still many beautiful stone statues left.

In the center of the city stands the huge pyramid of Kukulcan, which the Spanish call “the castle”. It was built in the 13th century and covers an area of ​​approximately 180 square feet and reaches a height of 78 feet. According to Mayan practice, Kukulkan was built on an older and slightly smaller pyramid.

Chichen Itza was a prosperous city until the 13th century. After that, Mayan rebellions and civil wars led to the rapid decline of the city, which never recovered. By the time the Spanish conquered Yucatan in the 16th century, the city center had been largely abandoned and left in ruins.

Samurai Temple

The “Temple of Warriors” at Chichen Itza was apparently modeled after the Temple of B in Tula, the Toltec capital, and was grander than its prototype due to the skill of the Mayan architects. The Temple of the Samurai is a stepped pyramid-topped stone building (originally made of wood and stucco) with internal pillars carved in the shape of a samurai. There is an altar statue of Chac Mool at the top of the pyramid steps leading to the entrance to the temple. Next to the Temple of the Warriors is a square surrounded by columns – the “Great Market”.

Court

There are a total of 7 Central American kickball courts in Chichen Itza, of which the one about 150 meters northwest of the pyramid is the most eye-catching. This was the largest stadium in ancient Mesoamerica, measuring 166 meters long and 68 meters wide. The interior of the stadium is lined with stone slabs carved with players’ images.

The football game in Chichen Itza is a religious ceremony. The priest will first calculate a hexagram. The hexagram may say that if Team A wins, it will be a good year, otherwise it will be a disaster year. The players on both sides were bored in the dark and didn’t know the content of the hexagram. In the end, maybe Team B wins. The priest revealed the content of the hexagram, and the poor captains of Team A and Team B had to offer their heads to quell the wrath of the gods. This kind of scene can be seen from a picture of the captain’s severed head on the field. A Jaguar Temple is built on one of the outer walls of the stadium, with another Jaguar crown on it. Because it has been buried in the ground for a thousand years, the red paint and the inlaid jade points on it have been worn away. Next to the course is an open-air platform, flanked by skeleton reliefs (stone-carved skulls worn on wooden frames).

Archmage Tomb

This is a scaled-down version of the Pyramid of Castillo. The name comes from a noble burial site discovered by early excavator EH Thompson.

Convent

One of Chichen Itza’s most striking classical period buildings is a fine group of buildings in the Puuc style. Although nicknamed “The Nunnery” (“Las Monjas”, “The Nunnery”) by the Spaniards, this group of buildings was actually the city’s government palace in the Classical period. Not far to the east is a small temple, nicknamed “La Iglesia”, “The Church”, decorated with elaborate masks of the rain god.