CHICHEN ITZA

Chichen ITZA is one of  Mexico  most popular tourist destination,  and rightfully so . The  Yucatans grandest archaeological site is chichen ITZA , a UNESCO world heritage area of immense cultural significance.
Chichen ITZA is perhaps the largest , most famous and most accessible mayan site , about 125 kilometers West of cancun and cozumel .This ancient mayan ruin , a major tourist stop  in Mexico Yucatan peninsula , is a rugged place of soaring pyramids, massive temples, startling carved columns and do-or- die sports fields.

The focal point of the region , an amalgam of an older mayan city and newer Toltec settlement , is the towering Castillo pyramid , which is fraught with cosmological symbolism .its four sides contain 365 steps ,52 panels and 18 terraces .inside, the Castillo is an interesting up a  narrow stair way

Mayan sports included a game with a soccer sized ball  that had it's own intricate rules and provided exciting competition for huge crowds of spectators .

The enormous chichen ITZA court   where this game was played is the largest ever found and is the largest ever found and is lined with fascinating carvings that display the rules and details of the sacred game. One carving even shows the captain of the losing game being beheaded.

The site also contains a sacred well , the astronomical observatory , the imposing temple of warriors , the reclining chac mool figure , a form of classic maya Sculpture believed to have served as an altar for sacrifice , and the nunnery.

During the fall and spring equinoxes, the suns shadow forms an enormous snakes body , which lines up with the carved stone snake head at the bottom of the Castillo pyramid.

At chichen itza , the sacred cenote is a natural well 60 metres in diameter with sheer, escape proof walls plunging 22 metres , winsome maidens aside, excavations in 1882 and 1968 discovered that stripping six foot warriors old scores settled ? And infant were also tossed into the pit.

Across from El Castillo , the temple of the warrior is also known as the temple of the thousands column .on top of it there is a stone on which steaming human hearts were offered to the gods.

Paintings on the outdoor pillars have all but disappeared , but inside an older temple beneath this one, colors are as bright as when they were freshly mixed from vegetable juice and mashed insects.

Several smaller building hold interest mostly for their relief sculptures depicting dire events of  the time. But one that really makes you sit up and pay attention is a huge ball park.

Each of two 27-foot high walls running its 480 foot length has a small stone ring near the top, through which a hard rubber ball had to be shot.

When you cross the highway bisecting the archeological zone, you leave behind unpleasant murals and evidence of human sacrifice, for these are buildings from pre Toltec time's .Unfortunately the spaniards destroyed all religious records.

In consequence, nobody knows for certain that the ornate structure ,70 yards long and 18 yards high , was actually a nunnery.

However , built in 60 addition. Besides a church , it has many little rooms reminiscent of the contents in Spain so they named it the nunnery.

In chichen itza you can also find the caracol , so called for its spiral staircase. The substructure is believed to have been completed around 700ad , and the 48-foot circular tower added later. This is the all important observatory.