Chichen Itza & Valladolid April 2017

Today we head inland to visit one of the largest Maya cities that ever existed: Chichen Itza.  Chichen Itza translates to “At the mouth of the well of the Itzaes” and was built between the Late Classic (600-900 AD) and the Terminal Classic Period (800-900 AD).  It is located near two large sinkholes called cenotes, Cenote Sagrado and Cenote Xtoloc.  Cenotes are sacred to the Maya and other than a source of water, they are believed to be the portals to the underworld.  Here Cenote Sagrado was often used to worship the Maya rain god Chaac.  Chichen Itza was named one of the New Seven Wonders of the World as well as a UNESCO World Hertiage Site.  It remains the most important archaeological vestige of the Maya-Toltec civilization in Yucatan Peninsula.  Chichen Itza served as the primary ceremonial center for the Mayas until about 1000 AD when the Toltecs invaded the area.  Toltec practices then fused with Maya ones to create a cohesive community.

Chichen Itza is a very large site with the most photographed El Castillo, also known as the Temple of Kukulkan (a Maya feathered serpent deity), dominating the Great North Platform.  It is a step pyramid about 30 meters high, built over an older temple pyramid.  Each of the four faces of the pyramid has 91 steps which together with the shared platform at the top add up to 365 steps which is the number of days in a year.  During Spring and Autumn equinoxes, the northwest corner of the pyramid casts shadows that look like a serpent is slithering down the northern staircase.  It took us a good couple of hours to cover the major points of interest here including the Great Ball Court, Temple of Warriors, Group of a Thousand Columns, Temple of Carved Columns, the Osario, Las Monjas, La Iglesia, and El Caracol, etc.

During the 1400s, the Maya abandoned Chichen Itza and left no known record for the reason.  It was speculated that droughts and perhaps disease or war contributed to Chichen Itza’s downfall.  Walking amongst these amazing stepped pyramids and temples, one can only imagine what it was like back in the day.  While Europe was still in the Dark Ages, the Maya already mapped the heavens, invented the calendar, and constructed vast cities in the jungles without metal tools or the wheel.  From Chichen Itza, we continued to Cenote Ik Kil nearby which is one of the most photographed cenotes in the Yucatan Peninsula and rightfully so.

Instead of taking a dip in the crowded Ik Kil with people jumping off the side into the water and others in life jackets bopping around, we went for a quick visit to the cute little town of Valladolid.  In 1545, Valladolid was built on top of a Maya town called Zaci where original buildings were dismantled to make use of the stone in building the new Spanish colonial town.  This town has witnessed many conflicts between the Maya and the Spanish including the Yucatan Castle War.  Today, Valladolid became part of the Magical Villages Program where buildings, funded by the Mexican Tourism Department, were restored.

This concludes my two weeks in Central America.  Stay tuned for my next trip to see the Giant Pandas in Chengdu, China!

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