Chichén-Itzá

The famous Mayan pyramids of Chichén-Itzá are over 1500 years old and are located only 75 miles from Mérida on the Yucatán peninsula. The name Chichén-Itzá is a Mayan word meaning CHI (mouth) CHEN (well) and ITZA (of the Itza tribe).

The site is divided into three sections. The Northern group of structures are distinctly Toltec in style. The central group is from the early period. The southern group is known as “The Old Chichén.”

The main attraction here is the central pyramid, El Castillo, which is one of the Seven New Wonders of the World. El Castillo is a huge Mesoamerican step-pyramid that dominates the Chichen Itza site. Built by the Maya sometime between the 1000 and 1200 AD, El Castillo served as a temple to the god Kukulkan and is believed to have served as a calendar. The structure has four stairways, each with 91 steps. When counting the top platform as another step, in total El Castillo has 365 steps, one step for each day of the year. The structure is 98ft high, this includes the temple at the top which is 20ft high. The square base measures 181ft across. Huge sculptures of plumed serpent’s heads sit at the base of the pyramid on the northern staircase. At sunset during the spring and autumn equinoxes triangle shadows are formed by the platforms making it appear as if a plumed serpent is descending the pyramid.

El Castillo

Inside El Castillo there is a narrowly enclosed staircase that leads to a chac mool (an altar where offerings to the gods were placed).

Here at Chichen Itza there is a large ball court where Mayan men played a game called pok ta pok. Anthropologists believe that the object of the game was to hurl a ball through a ring that was mounted on a wall, 7 metres above the ground. Each team had six field players who would attempt to pass the ball (using any body part except their hands) to their captain who would attempt the shot using a sort of racket. The captain of the team that made the first successful shot was then decapitated as a sacrifice to the gods! This was seen as an honour and guaranteed entrance into heaven.

El Castillo ball court

The ball court is very mystical – with the repetion of the number 7 which was sacred to the Mayans. There were seven players (six field players and the captain) on a team, the rings were seven metres high and if you clap your hands or shout in the court the sound will echo exactly seven times.

There are carvings on the stone walls that depict the ball players and after the captain was beheaded, it is said that seven serpents grew out of his neck.
There is a Mayan prophecy that on 22nd December 2012 the great warrior serpent Kukulkán will rise from the ground beneath the playing field and end the world for good.