Chichen-Itza

When we woke up this morning it was 58 degrees but by 9 AM we took off the long sleeves and unzipped the the long pants. The weather has been perfect -- not too hot during the day and cool at night (makes for good sleeping).  

Chichen-Itza is actually 4 words -- Chi-Chen-It-za (sounds like chee-chin --eat--sa) and means The Water Wizard at the Well. Instead of describing the buildings and what we saw, I'm going to share what we learned.

We have a better understanding of the Mayan Calendar now. There area actually two calendars-- the religious one and the one based on astronomy. The religious calendar is 260 days long based on 13 months of 20 days. The calendar based on astronomy is 365 days long (and they take into consideration leap year every 4 years) but it is divided into 18 months of 20 days each with the 19th month containing 5 days which are religious days and dedicated to the gods.

So when you look at the pyramid called El Castile aka Pyramid of Kukulcon there are 9 tiers on each side with steps dividing those tiers in half so you have 18 tiers on each of 4 sides which would be the number of months in the year. Each stair case has 91 steps with one step being the top plaza which equals 365. Kukulcan is a serpent. During the spring and fall equinox, as the sun is setting, you can see Kukulcan descend the pyramid as the sun shines on each of the risers of the steps.  

Other buildings were built using the religious calendar. They might have 13 windows or 13 columns representing the 13 months or steps to represent the 260 days. Every 52 years for 9 months the two calendars are the same. The significance of the 9 months is the gestation period or new birth. The religious calendar is the fertility calendar and follows the rise and fall of the moon.

Another amazing building is the Caracol (Snail) Observatory. Called the Snail because of the way it has been constructed in spirals. On top of the pyramid style base is a round, domed building that looks like current astronomy observatories. There are 8 windows in the top room that are aligned with the compass. Unlike the square lines & symmetry of the rest of the Maya empire, this building's doors and stairs do not line up exactly. They are off 23.5 degrees which is the tilt of the earth. Also, once a year the sun shines thru the north window to produce a light line to which all the buildings in the area are aligned.

The ball court at Chichen-Itza' is the largest in the Maya World. Only the upper class noble and religious leaders would watch the game which was a religious ceremony. The winners are willing to sacrifice themselves to the gods. The walls of the court are tilted in 4 degrees and the way the stones are laid causes wonderful acoustics.

Cenotes (c-note-ays) are underground rivers that have surfaced as a sink hole. This was the main source of water for the whole of the Yucatan Peninsula and especially Chichen-Itza as it was built around 2 of them. The city housed up to 60,000 people and supported another 40,000 outside its walls.