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The Mayan name "Chich'en Itza" means "at the mouth of the well of the Itza (people)." This famous
temple city was the political and economic center of Mayan civilization. The pyramid of Kukulcan itself was the last, and arguably the greatest, of all Mayan temples.
Since the Yucatán Peninsula has no rivers, the three natural sinkholes (cenotes) at Chichén Itzá made it a good place for a city, providing plenty of water all year. Two of these cenotes still exist—the most famous is the "Cenote of Sacrifice," sacred to the Maya rain god Chaac. Offerings of jade, pottery and incense were thrown into the well, and occasionally, during times of bad drought, a human sacrifice.
However, there is no proof to the legend that many beautiful, young women were sacrificed.
About 987, a Toltec king named Quetzalcóatl (there is a wonderful legend about him, who became the Maya plumed serpent god Kukulcan) arrived with an army from central Mexico, and, with local Mayan allies, made Chichén Itzá his capital. The art and architecture from this period are a mix of Maya and Toltec styles, such as the "Temple of the Warriors," which features an altar statue known as a chac mool.
In the center of Chichén Itzá is the Temple of Kukulcan, often called "El Castillo" (the castle). It is a step pyramid, with square terraces and staircases up each of the four sides to the temple on top. Great sculptures of plumed serpents run down the northern staircase and, because of how the shadows fall, seem to move on the spring and fall equinoxes. Inside, visitors can enter an older pyramid and climb up to the high room with King Kukulcan's stone Jaguar Throne, painted red with jade-green spots.
There is also a large court at Chichén Itzá for playing a game called “pok ta pok,” which we think involved throwing a ball through a ring on the wall seven meters (around 23 ft) above the ground. The captain of the team that first scored was beheaded as a sacrifice to the gods and thought to rise directly to heaven.
In 1221, a revolt and civil war broke out and the wooden roofs of the great market and the Temple of the Warriors were burnt at that time. Chichén Itzá lost power, as rulership over Yucatán shifted to Mayapan. |
