Chichén Itzá

“Maravilla del Mundo Moderno” refers to a recent vote selecting seven ‘modern’ wonders of the world, as opposed to the ancient seven wonders (The Pyramid of Giza, The Colossus of Rhodes, The Hanging Gardens of Babylon, etc, yes you know the story). The Maya city Chichén Itzá in Mexico won the vote together with six other places across the world, including the Machu Picchu in Peru, recently visited by my collegue Tareq Englefield (read here).

Chichén Itzá is one of two impressive (and rivalling) Maya cities, the other being the nearby Uxmal, which I unfortunately didn’t visit during this trip (Tareq, go there!).

Chichén Itzá features its highlight ‘El Castillo’, which is far from the biggest pyramid ever created but it may very well be the most beautiful pyramid in the world. It is excellently preserved/restored and has become the symbol of Mayas and Mayan architecture. However, there are also other goodies in the city as for example the biggest ancient ball court, the observatory, the temple with thousand columns and much more.

El Castillo raises in all its grandeur. It is indeed a very beautiful construction. The pyramid is basically the Mayan calendar formed in stone. Each of the nine levels is divided in two by the staircase, creating 18 platforms representing the 18 months of the Vague year. The four stairways have 91 steps each, add the top platform and the total is 365, the number of days in the year. On each facade of the pyramid are 52 flat panels, representing the 52 years in the Calendar Round.

As if this was not enough, the pyramid is also constructed so that during the spring and autumn equinoxes, light and shadow forms a series of triangles on one of the staircases, which imitate a serpent ascending (March) or descending (September).

The observatory. Due to its form and shape, early archaeologists immediately assumed that this must be a place to observe the stars. However, I overheard a guide speaking about other theories of its use and it may not have been an observatory at all.

The ball court. It is thought that the Mayan played a football-like game with a hard rubber ball, use of hands prohibited. The team who managed to get the ball through one of the stone hoops was declared the winner. There are some evidence that during a period, the loosing teams’ captain (and sometimes his team mates as well) were sacrificed. And some say football is a game about life and death. So wrong, so wrong. It’s all about the money.

Columns. These were holding up a roof of some sort (made of wood) creating an impressive indoor hall.

Nightly sound and light show with the ruins illuminated in different colours. A very popular and beautiful performance but unfortunately it got a bit too dark to take good pictures. I will never forget it though.