Chichen-Itza, Sacred City of the Mayans

A “Must-See” for anyone who visits the Yucatan Peninsula.

In 1988, UNESCO awarded Chichen- Itza with World Heritage Site status and on July 7, 2007 was included in the list of the “New Seven Wonders of the World” in a competition run by Bernard Weber of Switzerland, founder of the New Open World Foundation.

Chichen Itza, means “at the mouth of the well of the Itza”. Chichen- Itza was a large pre-Columbian city built by the Maya civilization. The archaeological site is located in the municipality of Tinum, in  the Mexican state of Yucatán.

Chichen- Itza was one of the largest Maya cities and it was likely to have been one of the mythical great cities, or Tollans, referred to in later Mesoamerican literature. The city may have had the most diverse population in the Maya world, a factor that could have contributed to the variety of architectural styles at the site.

The ruins of Chichen Itza are federal property, and the site’s stewardship is maintained by Mexico’s Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia (National Institute of Anthropology and History). The land under the monuments had been privately-owned until 29 March 2010, when it was purchased by the state of Yucatán.Chichen- Itza is one of the most visited archaeological sites in Mexico; an estimated 1.2 million tourists visit the ruins every year.

Dominating the North Platform of Chichen- Itza is the Temple of Kukulkan (a Maya feathered serpent deity similar to the Aztec Quetzalcoatl), usually referred to as El Castillo ("the castle") This step pyramid stands about 30 meters (98 ft.) high and consists of a series of nine square terraces, each approximately 2.57 meters (8.4 ft.) high, with a 6-meter  (20 ft.) high temple upon the summit.

The stepped pyramid has a staircase on each side, during spring and autumn equinox, occurring at both sunrise and sunset, and you can observe the  light-and-shadow effect on the Temple of Kukulcan in which the feathered serpent god supposedly can be seen to crawl down the side of the pyramid.