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Many years ago, a group of warriors called the Itzá, conquered a city in what is today part of the Yucatan in Mexico. They called it Chichén-Itzá, which means place of the "mouth of the well of the Itzá".

The area around Chichén-Itzá had a least two such wells called cenotes, the most famous being the Cenote of Sacrifice.

The Mayas who lived in Chichén-Itzá built many palaces, temples, and monuments. They not only were powerful warriors but also wise men who studied the stars and left a written record of their history in the form of carved glyphs.

Many kings governed the city and gave orders to construct higher and higher buildings. As the Mayas were great artists, they painted them with many colors and decorated them with beautiful sculptures.   In many of them you can see a feathered snake.   It was its main god named Kukulcán.

Their wise priests had an observatory built in the shape of a shell to study the stars and foretell the future. They also had their own ball games. To practice it they built a great ball court with walls and stands. They played with rubber balls that they should pass through rings of stone. Only the kings, the priests, and the most important warriors lived in the great palaces. The common people lived in huts made of straw located near the pyramids.

One day, the Mayas of Chichén-Itzá decided to leave their city. Archaeologists do not know why but they left and the city remained silent in the middle of the Yucatan jungle.

I was fortunate to visit the city in January, 1998. Its temples and palaces are still standing and Kukulcán's shadow descends to earth every Spring on a wall of the great pyramid that is called The Castle.

So come with us now on a guided tour of the famous Maya city of Chichén-Itzá. Use the gray menu bar on the left, the clickable site map or follow the links marked [Next] which will follow our guide's recommended tour.



Links include the following:

[Introduction] [Cult of Kukulcán] [The Castle] [Ossuary] [The Church] [Annex of the Nunnary] [The Nunnary] [The Observatory] [Temple of the Jaguars] [The Ball Court] [Bearded Man] [Platform of Skulls] [Platform of Eagles & Jaguars] [Platform of Venus] [Sacred Cenote] [Temple of the Warriors] [Thousand Columns] [Site Map] [Return to Maya Menu]

[Based on Let's Learn about Chichén-Itzá .and The Mayas On the Rocks by Javier Covo T. published by Producción Editorial Dante (Mérida, Mexico). Both available in paperback and highly recommended. Hypertext links to The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Mesoamerica. ]

Pages Created: Wednesday, 4-March-98
URL: http://www.best.com/~swanson/maya/eg_maya_chichen_index
Photographs by L.Swanson and where indicated,
images © 1999 arttoday.com (used with permission)
Web pages written and designed by L.C. Swanson.