Ruinas Chichén-Itzá Things to Do Tips by Maria_75 Top 5 Page for this destination

The platform of eagle and jaguars

This platform is situated next to the platform of skulls. The place got it's name after the carvings of eagle and jaguars. They are often regarded as a symbol of the warriors. Here they are shown with hearts in their hands, ready to eat them.

It is believed that after taking out the hearts on the people who was sacrificed, they threw the bodies down the stairs from El Castillo. The warriors were waiting downstairs and was often fighting just to get a peace of the flesh. Others say it was the heart that was thorwn down, anyway it is said to have been a very important ritual to the warriors.

The observatory

The mayas were great astronomers and in this observatory they spent plenty time watching the heaven. The tower has eight windows, corresponding with the cardinal points; north - northeast - east - southeast - south etc etc. The windows were also divided in four by two sticks making a cross. From here they were noting down all of the things they saw, and they were trying to find things that were repeating itself in cycles. Unfortunately it is closed so you can not go inside it now.

The tower is also called El Caracol (the snail) because of it's winding stairway. There are many carvings of the raingod Chaac here, and some think this observatory might have been dedicated to him.

Chichén Viejo

The old part of the site is very different from the new part with El Castillo, the ball court and the other buildings. The old part is original mayan and bears close resemblance to the Puuc architecture. In contrary of the Toltec inspired Chichén Nuevo.

One of the most important gods to the mayas living here was the rain god Chaac. You can see his characteristic face in most buildings. He is actually not so unlike the Aztec raingod Tlaloc.

There is also another interesting fact that you can see in this site. Here, and other places where it was hard to make a living, they built big and impressing buildings. Mostly for religious and ceremonial purposes. All over the old part you can see carvings of the raingod Chaac. In a place with little water and long dry season it is not so strange that they felt the need to impress their raingod so he could give them more rain.

Other places where it was much easier to live they didn't feel the need to build so big and impressive buildings. Maybe because they didn't feel they had to worship their different gods to give them things they allready had plenty of. Like f.ex. in Tulum were the buildings are much smaller than here. But they had the sea very close which gave them all kinds of fishes, much rain in the rainseason and crops of maize, honey and other things.

The nunnery

This is one of the largest buildings in the old part of the city. It shows a very clear Puuc architecture, together with the buildings around. It was actually not a nunnery at all, but was maybe used for civil ceremonies or for priests.

An adventerous explorer used dynamite to blast his way inside some time ago. It left a big hole on the right side of the entrance, and it gives you an idea of how the building was made.

The thousand columns

Actually there are "just" 800 columns here, but I didn't count them so I don't know for sure... ;) Here you can see a good example of their tradition on the 52 year cycle. At each cycle they had to do some renovation, rebuilding or build something new. Many of the columns have clearly been built at different times, as there are groups of similar columns next to groups of other columns.

There used to be a roof over the columns but these have been lost today since they were just made of wood and palm trees. Many of the Toltec buildings are actually in worse condition than the Mayans, even if they were built many hundred years later. This is because the Toltecs built with more wood than the Mayas did, and today the wood is gone.

The temple of the warriors

This temple is located next to El Castillo, together with the Thousand columns. The temple got it's name from the sculptures of warriors. It's a great example of Toltec influence, as it is almost an exact replica of a similar temple in Tula, the Toltec capital.

At the entrance is a Chac-Mool statue; a person seen sitting from the side with knees bent and a plate in the stomach. It is believed that the human hearts were put on the stomach as a sacrifice to the gods, and that the statue was a messenger.

At the entrance are also two columns shaped as a serpent, Kukulcán. With the head at the bottom and the tail at the top. There are many great carvings and murals inside, mostly by Toltec influence. But also some of the Maya rain god Chaac.

The sacred cenote

This cenote is located 300 m from El Castillo. Humans were trown inside alive as sacrifices to the gods, especially during drought. Archeologists have found many skeletons inside and different kinds of goods that also acted as sacrifices. The priests claimed that the sacrificed people did not die, even if they never came back again alive.

Next to the cenote was a small temple that you can see a little bit of today. This is were the ceremonies were held when the sacrifices were thrown inside.

Cenotes are natural waterholes found all over the Yucatán peninsula. The area consits of limestone, and the water did slowly brake through and make these cenotes.

The platform of Venus

Venus was a very important star to the astronomers. Some legends claim Quetzacoatl emerged up in to the sky and went to Venus. This platform is located close to the Platform of eagles and jaguars.

The platform of skulls

Next to the ballcourt is a platform where you can see carvings of many skulls all around the walls. Some are seen from the front, and some from the side, but all are different. They believe this is the place where some of the sacrifices took place.

The platform is shaped like a T and is quite big. It is said to be a reminder of their aggresive warstyle and that skulls were place there to scare and to show their glory.

Temple of the bearded man

This temple lies at the north end, the short side, of the ball court. It got it name from a relief showing a bearded man, which is quite unusual. Quetzalcoatl (Kukulcán in maya) is sometimes shown with a beard so it might be him, or someone related to this god.

The temple is 10 x 6 metres and stands on a 14 x 8 metres platform. On the sides of the staircases are some panels showing birds, butterflies and trees. On top is a representation of Kukulcán. Inside the walls of the temple are murals that also shows Kukulcán and a bearded man.

It is believed that the rulers of the city watch the ballgames from this place.