Chichén-Itzá one of the 7 Wonders of the World

So today I ventured to go look for one of the Wonders of the World, and guess what? I found it.  The drive was only 1.5 hours from Merida (at my driving speed), the road was was empty getting there and coming back, it was a toll road so it's very kept up, and wide open spaces!

Before I say all the good things, and give you all a little history on Chichen-Itzá, let me say that I was a bit disappointed on the amount of vendors there are on the grounds, they are ALL OVER the perimeter of the inside grounds and have random walking sellers approaching you to try and peddle their goods.  Kind sucks too that all the structures are restricted to the public, they are all corded off, but the "good" thing about that, is that it makes it for easy travel through out the grounds, cause you don't miss anything since all the surroundings are corded off, so no back tracking.

Even though I got there fairly early, there was tons of people already as you can tell:

So now, a few details about Chichen-Itzá, it is located in the eastern part of Yucatan, only 1.45-2 hour drive from the Centro (downtown). There are two large, natural sink holes, called cenotes, that could have provided plentiful water year round at Chichen, making it attractive for settlement, unfortunately when I saw the main cenote I was not overly impressed or really was not able to take a good view of it, hence why I didn't take any pictures of it. Here's a picture of what it should look like courtesy of "cancunassist.com".

According to post-Conquest sources (Maya and Spanish), pre-Columbian Maya sacrificed objects and human beings into the cenote as a form of worship to the Maya rain god Chaac, through out the years, many objects and artifacts have been pulled from the cenotes, from gold and jade pieces, to human remains showing that they were used as sacrifice locations.  A study of human remains taken from the Cenote Sagrado found that they had wounds consistent with human sacrifice.

The Great Ball Court

This is part of the ball court which is also having some renovation done to it, once again it was all about the details on the stone work.

Work is ongoing at Chichen-Itzá, workers are scrapping off the dirt from the mounds of rock to clear out the side of this building.

Yes, I had to squeeze in a few pictures of me, otherwise it wont count that I was there lol

The Great Ball Court

The Great Ball Court, currently under restoration, it is amazing, and the acoustics in the open space is amazing! You have to be there to understand how impressive it really is.

More restoration going on, several structures are with ongoing restorations, and by restricting the public access to the public will prolong the life of these amazing buildings.

El Castillo

In 2009, to investigate construction that predated El Castillo, Yucatec archaeologists began excavations adjacent to El Castillo under the direction of Rafael (Rach) Cobos, unearthing these steps, do they lead down or up? Is there more that will be unearthed?

The architecture encompasses a number of styles, including the Puuc and Chenes styles of the northern Yucatán Peninsula. 

The buildings of Chichen Itza are grouped in a series of architectonic sets, and each set was at one time separated from the other by a series of low walls.

The three best known of these complexes are the Great North Platform, which includes the monuments of El Castillo, Temple of Warriors and the Great Ball Court; The Ossario Group, which includes the pyramid of the same name as well as the Temple of Xtoloc; and the Central Group, which includes the Caracol, Las Monjas, and Akab Dzib.

Chichen Itza was one of the largest Maya cities, with the relatively densely clustered architecture of the site core covering an area of at least 5 square kilometres (1.9 sq mi). Smaller scale residential architecture extends for an unknown distance beyond this. The city was built upon broken terrain, which was artificially levelled in order to build the major architectural groups, with the greatest effort being expended in the levelling of the areas for the Castillo pyramid, and the Las Monjas, Osario and Main Southwest groups. The site contains many fine stone buildings in various states of preservation, and many have been restored. The buildings were connected by a dense network of paved causeways, called sacbeob. Archaeologists have identified over 80 sacbeob criss-crossing the site, and extending in all directions from the city.

Temple of the Warriors

 The Temple of the Warriors is one of the most impressive structures at Chichén Itzá. It may be the only known late classic Maya building sufficiently big enough for really large gatherings.

The temple consists of four platforms, flanked on the west and south sides by 200 round and square columns. The square columns are carved in low relief, with Toltec warriors; in some places they are cemented together in sections, covered with plaster and painted in brilliant colors.

The Temple of Warriors is approached by a broad stairway with a plain, stepped ramp on either side, each ramp has figures of standard-bearers to hold flags. A chacmool reclined before the main entrance. On the top, S-shaped serpent columns supported wooden lintels (now gone) above the doorways.

Decorative features on the head of each serpent and astronomical signs are carved over the eyes. On the top of each serpent head is a shallow basin that might have been used as an oil lamp.

This is a very typical "Chosa" or Pueblo house. They are made from straw roof tops and clay sidings over slats of wood. These are still existing in the outer towns of Yucatan and through out the peninsula.

Xtoloc Temple

Platform of Venus

The Ossuary 

The Ossuary is often called The High Priest's Grave, because it contains and ossuary - a communal grave yard, beneath its foundation.

The building itself shows combined Toltec and Puuc characteristics, and is definitely reminiscent of el Castillo. The Ossuary includes a pyramid of about 9 meters high, with a length of 38 m at the base and four stairways on each side, a sanctuary in the center and a gallery with a portico in the front.





The balustrades of the stairways are decorated with interlaced feathered serpents. Pillars associated with this building are in the form of the Toltec feathered serpent and human figures.

Every corner of the upper temple formerly was decorated by 4 Chac masks, lying on top of each other.




 Between the first two pillars is a square, stone-lined, vertical shaft in the floor which extends downwards to the base of the pyramid, where it opens up into a natural cavern. The cave is 11 m deep, and when it was excavated, bones from several human burials were identified along with burial items and offerings of jade, shell, rock crystal and copper bells.







Several structures are aligned Between the Xtoloc temple and the Ossuary: the Platform of Venus (which is similar in design to the structure of the same name next to El Castillo), the Platform of the Tombs, and a small, round structure that is unnamed.













These three structures were constructed in a row extending from the Ossuary. Beyond them the Ossuary platform terminates in a wall, opening up to a sacbe that runs more than hundred meters to the Xtoloc temple.

El Caracol

The Observatory at Chichén Itzá is called el Caracol (the Spanish word for snail) because it has an interior staircase that spirals upward like a snail's shell. The round, concentrically-vaulted Caracol was built and rebuilt several times during the time of its use, in part, scholars believe, to calibrate astronomical observations.





The first structure was probably built here 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 about 15 meters high was built atop the platform, with a solid lower body, a central portion with two circular galleries and a spiral staircase with an observation chamber on the top. The second vertical zone of the tower is decorated with 4 chac-masks, on which seated figures are represented.

This tower sits high on a four-cornered but not quite square platform and gives excellent unobstructed views of the skies and surrounding landscape. In particular, it seems to be carefully aligned with the motions of Venus.

Venus had tremendous significance for the Mayan community; this bright planet was considered a war god and the sun’s twin. Mayan leaders used the changing position of Venus to plan appropriate times for battles and raids.

Later the complex was extended by a Northwest Temple, built upon the platform, as well as a West Annex in front of the Caracol.

Another structure was named La Iglesia (the Church) by the Spanish, probably because it was located right next to the Nunnery. This rectangular building is of classic Puuc construction with an overlay of central Yucatan styles (Chenes). This is probably one of the most frequently drawn and photographed buildings at Chichén Itzá; famous 19th century drawings were made by both Frederick Catherwood and Desiré Charnay.

The Iglesia is rectangular with a single room inside and an entrance on the west side. The outside wall is completely covered with veneer decorations, which extend clear up to the roof comb. The frieze is bounded at ground level by a stepped fret motif and above by a serpent; the stepped fret motif is repeated on the bottom of the roof comb. The most important motif of the decoration is the Chac god mask with a hooked nose standing out on the corners of the building. In addition, there are four figures in pairs between the masks including an armadillo, a snail, a turtle, and a crab, the four "bacabs" who hold up the sky in Mayan mythology.

One of the more notable and largest structures at Chichén Itzá is a complex of terminal classic buildings constructed in the Puuc architectural style. The Spanish nick-named this complex “Las Monjas”, although it was actually a governmental palace.







The main building of this complex is the so-called "Nunnery" or "Platform 5", whose platform is 50 m long and 28 m wide. In front of it is a 17m wide main stair, leading to a superstructure with numerous chambers and detailed wall-decoration.



The East Wing is located immediately adjacent to the Nunnery and while it is from the early Mayan period of Chichén Itzá, it shows some influence of later residence. This building is of the Chenes style, which is a local Yucatan style.

  It has a lattice motif on the roof comb, complete with Chac masks, but it also includes an undulating serpent running along its cornice. The decoration begins at the base and goes up to the cornice, with the façade completely covered with several rain god masks with a central richly clad human figure over the doorway. A hieroglyphic inscription is on the lintel.

The details on the stone carving on these building is another mastery of the masonry craftsmanship the Mayan people had.

Hope you all enjoyed another one of my trips, tomorrow Thursday is an off day, or should say a family day, I came to find out that an uncle I came to see and called him today, passed away last month, caught me off guard and kinda killed a great day, so I have to go visit the rest of my family before I continue to have fun.

See you all on the next adventure...stand by!