Back in February 2020, I had the pleasure of visiting Cancún. After spending most of Thursday traveling, we got up before the sun on Friday, to head to Chichén Itzá. Chichén Itzá is pre-Columbian city, built by the Mayan people. It is an UNESCO World Heritage Site, and one of the New Seven Wonders of the World. Chichén Itzá was one of the largest Mayan cities and is very popular, with tourists arriving by the bus load. It is best to get there early, both to avoid the crowds and the heat.
We started off about 6:00 a.m., on the two and a half hour drive (using the toll road) to Chichén Itzá. While this was an early start, it was well worth it! With the time change, we arrived at the park before the gates were open (the park opens at 8:00 a.m., but the gates open around 7:30). We were the second car into the park, were the third in line to get tickets, and therefor the third group into the park in the morning.
El Castillo
As we walked into the park, it was incredibly serene. You could hear a few birds chirping, but there was a quietness and stillness to the park. As we walked along the pathway, El Castillo (the Temple of Kulkulkán) came into view, just as the sun was rising from behind it. This was an amazing site, and to have it unobstructed by others, was phenomenal.
El Castillo, the most famous of the ruins in Chichén Itzá, was built between the 8th and 12th centuries, as a temple to the god Kulkulkán, a feathered serpent. The serpent theme runs throughout the building, with serpent heads and the bottom of the stairs on one side, and serpent like shadows appearing on the building around the spring and autumn equinoxes. This temple was the center of religious power for the inhabitants, and thus an extremely important part of the city.
After looking at the temple from all sides, and noticing the crowds now beginning to come in, we decided to move on and look at the rest of the ruins.
Western Colonnade
Next we visited the Western Colonnade, a building built with lots of columns, which originally held up a vaulted roof. The roof has since crumbled, but the columns stand tall. I really appreciated the aesthetic of the columns in their present day form, as well as the work that went into creating them (and the entire city) by hand. This building hosted large gatherings.
From there we entered into the Plaza of a Thousand Columns, believed to function as a civic and religious spot. The plaza has column filled buildings on all sides, including the Western Colonnade on the west side and The Market on the south side. From there, we continued our tour of the complex, by looking at the buildings on the south side of the city.
The Observatory, Nunnery and Church
The next large building we came to was El Caracol. There is a large cylindrical structure at the top, allowing for great viewing of the night sky above the tree tops. Additionally, this building seems to be aligned with the motions of Venus, particularly during the equinoxes. Thus, this building is often referred to as The Observatory.
Continuing past The Observatory, at the most southern end of the ruins, is The Nunnery. There is a large open grass area in front of The Nunnery, which really allows you to take in the enormity of the building.
The Nunnery likely didn’t house nuns, but was rather a government building used for civic purposes. The Spanish named this building The Nunnery because it reminded them of Spanish convents. This is one of the oldest buildings on site, however, not all that you see today was built at the same time. This building has been enlarged throughout its history.
Next to the large nunnery building is the church, one of the best preserved buildings in the entire complex. The church is a one-room, small, ornately decorated rectangular building. While viewing the church we ran into a large tour group, so I didn’t get any pictures of the church. From here we headed back to El Castillo, to see the north side of the complex.
Ball Court & Cenote
To the west of El Castillo is a very large ball court. This ball court is actually the largest playing field in Mesoamerica. The court measures 551 feet long by 230 feet wide, with 26 foot walls on each side. It is a massive playing area. From here we walked north, to the Cenote de los Sacrificios.
Chichén Itzá actually means “Mouth of the Well of the Itza” in Mayan. This refers to the cenote where the Mayan people made human sacrifices as a tribute to their gods. The Cenote de los Sacrificios is where those human sacrifices were made. Knowing that, it is a little ominous to walk to the cenote. However, today there is a fence around the cenote, and it is actually quite hard to see into it.
After a quick view of the cenote, we walked back to El Castillo. The number of people now surrounding the temple was amazing, and the temperature was quickly rising. We were very happy to have had an early start to the day!
Chichén Itzá is incredibly interesting and thought provoking. If you have the opportunity to visit, please do. For the best experience, I suggest you arrive early, bring a hat and water, and apply lots of sunscreen.
