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Chichen Itza

Chichen Itza. Gabriela Estrada-Torres. General Info. Chichen Itza means “at the mouth of the Itza well.” It is a Mayan city in Mexico on the Yucatan Peninsula, between Valladolid and Merida. It was established before the period of Christopher Columbus

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Chichen Itza

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  1. Chichen Itza Gabriela Estrada-Torres

  2. General Info • Chichen Itza means “at the mouth of the Itza well.” • It is a Mayan city in Mexico on the Yucatan Peninsula, between Valladolid and Merida. • It was established before the period of Christopher Columbus • Today it is the second most visited site in Mexico, the first being the Kukulcan Pyramid which is one of the seven wonders of the world.

  3. Description • Their artistic works and stone monuments show the Maya and Toltec vision of the world and the universe. • The city was built in the 7th to 10th century A.D. Mayan style. • It was made to be a religious center for the Mayans, and covers about 6 square miles. • When the Toltecs took over, they added a 2nd half of the city which was built in the 10th to 13th century A.D. Toltec/Mayan style. • The carvings on the Platform of the Jaguars and the Eagles (lower right picture) demonstrates the Toltec influence on the Maya of Chichen Itza.

  4. The Temple of Warriors • The temple is named for the columns, over 200 in all, along the front of the main temple all carved with Toltec warriors on each side. • The temple is dedicated to the god Chac-Mool. There is a reclining statue of the god (lower right picture) in the center of the temple and the staircases have Chac masks on either side. • Along the west side of the temple are more rows of columns making the site’s total columns more than 1000. All the columns probably held a thatched roof. Guides call this area the marketplace.

  5. Kukulcan’s Pyramid • Kukulcan’s Pyramid, also known as El Castillo (the castle in Spanish), is a square-based, stepped pyramid that is about 75 feet tall. (see lower left picture) • During March 20 and September 21 (vernal and autumnal equinoxes) at around 3 pm the sunlight bathes the western railing of the pyramid's main stairway. This makes 7 triangles form body of a serpent 37 yards long that goes downwards until it joins the huge serpent's head carved in stone at the bottom of the stairway. (see upper left picture)

  6. The Great Ball Court • The Great Ball Court of Chichen Itza is 545 feet long and 225 feet wide overall and does not have a roof. • The sound waves are unaffected by wind direction or time of day/night and a whisper can be heard all through the court. It can not be explained to this day. • Legends say that the winning captain would have his head decapitated by the losing captain. The Mayans thought this to be the ultimate honor. • Instead of going through the 13 steps that the Mayan's believed they had to go through in order to reach heaven, the winning captain got a direct ticket there.

  7. The Grand Cenote • Northern Yucatan is arid (not a lot of rain), and the interior has no aboveground rivers, making natural sinkholes called cenotes the only sources of water. • The two at Chichen Itza are large but in other areas they can be small. Of the two, the larger, the "Cenote Sagrado" or Sacred Cenote, is more famous. • The pre-Columbian Maya threw sacrificial objects and human beings into the cenote as a form of worship to Chaac, the Maya rain god according to post-Conquest sources (both Maya and Spanish). • Archaeologists found various types of offerings, including jade carvings, pottery, gold and silver artifacts and even human skeletons in the Cenote of Sacrifice. • The cenote was also considered by the Maya to be an entrance to the underworld and it is believed that the sacrificial victims were paying respect to Chac-Mool by entering this underworld.

  8. The Observatory • South of the Castillo is a round building known as the Carocal (or snail in Spanish) because it has an interior staircase that spirals upward like a snail's shell. • In order to calibrate its astronomical observation capacity, the Caracol was built and rebuilt several times during its time of use. • The windows in the Caracol are believed to enable the tracking of the movement of Venus, the Pleiades, the sun and the moon and other celestial objects.

  9. The Nunnery • The Nunnery Group includes the Nunnery, its Annex (or East Annex), the Iglesia (church in Spanish) and the Akab Dzib. The group is located south of the Observatory but in the same area, one complex clearly visible from the other. The group is often referred to as Las Monjas (the nuns in Spanish). • Over a period of three centuries (8th-11th), it underwent seven stages of construction and doubled in size. The Nunnery is the most complex Late Classic structure at Chichen Itza and possibly the earliest (7th century). • It is built in the Puuc tradition, deviating from the classic style of western Yucatán in only one detail. Most of Chichen's Puuc-style architecture has plain, unadorned, block-masonry wall. Hallmark Puuc construction calls for rubble walls finished by precision veneer work.

  10. Platform of the Eagles and the Jaguars • The Platform of the Eagles and Jaguars has intricate carvings on all sides consisting of representations of two of the icons worshipped by the Maya after the Toltecs asserted their influence, the eagle and the jaguar. • The carvings show both animals clutching human hearts in their claws (see left), which prompted an earlier name for the structure, Temple of the Sacrifices.

  11. Tourism • Fernando Barbachano Peon, started Yucatan’s first official tourism business in the early 1920s. In 1944 he purchased the entire site of Chichen Itza and constructed a hotel, which caused further tourist visitation of the ruins. • In 1961 and 1967 there were more expeditions to recover artifacts from the Cenote Sagrado. • In 1972, Mexico enacted the Federal Law over Monuments and Archeological, Artistic and Historic Sites that put all the nation's pre-Columbian monuments, including those at Chichen Itza, under federal ownership. • In the 1980s, Chichen Itza began to receive many visitors on the day of the spring equinox. Thousands of people went to see the light-and-shadow effect on the Temple of Kukulcan in which the feathered serpent god can be seen crawling down the side of the pyramid.

  12. Works Cited • http://www.chichenitza.com/ • http://archaeology.suite101.com/article.cfm/chichen_itza • http://www.mnsu.edu/emuseum/archaeology/sites/meso_america/chichenitza.html • http://www.jonbales.com/yucatan/ChichenItza/Temple.htm • http://www.mysteriousplaces.com/mayan/BallCourt.html • http://yucatantoday.com/en/topics/chichen-itza • http://www.webexhibits.org/calendars/calendar-mayan.html • http://www.mysteriousplaces.com/mayan/Observatory.html • http://www.sacredsites.com/americas/mexico/chichen-itza-facts.html • http://www.americanegypt.com/feature/cities/chichenitza/eagandjag_carving.htm • http://www.americanegypt.com/feature/cities/chichenitza/eagandjag.htm • http://www.earthdancer.org/MPix/Chichen.html

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