Chichen Itza
The most well-known Mayan site in Mexico all over the World is Chichen Itza . If once you are around, simply do not miss to visit one of the New Seven Wonders of the World, and the UNESCO heritage: Chichen Itza . In case you wish to stay around even a night, you can reserve your cheap but comfortable hotel room in Chichen Itza . Our tours will take you there from Cancun hotel zone or Playa del Carmen or Riviera Maya hotels, with comfortable and safe transport with a well-trained guide.
Here in Chichen Itza at the Yucatan region, you can admire and learn how the highly developed knowledge in Astrology, Architecture, Physics, Mathematics and Engineering was commonly used by the Maya demonstrating us that they weren’t exactly an uncivilized society, in such a way that even many of our modern scientist are discovering what the Maya already knew hundreds of years ago. Even 500 years before the Arabs did, the Mayan civilization where using the concept of the 0, and their calendar which synchronizes the Sun, the Moon and the Earth with the Universe, it’s more precise that the one we use nowadays.
One clear demonstration on how exact they were in their calculations is the construction of the amazing and enigmatic Kukulcan pyramid or the Castle of Chichen Itza as it is also known; such edification was employed to pay tribute to the Mayan God Kukulcan, which in their language means Feathered Serpent. In this Chichen Itza pyramid you will notice that in the beginning of the stairs (which are 91 steps on each side, totalling 364, equal to a solar year) lays a snake shaped head, and if you want to see the whole body, then you must come when the Equinox occurs in March or September.
The Kukulcan pyramid is not the only building where the Maya used their astronomic knowledge, as a matter of fact, all of the most important buildings in Chichen Itza and other Mayan cities -such as temples, ball courts and other pyramids- where raised up in accordance to solstices and equinoxes.
The Northern part of the Peninsula of Yucatan (today Mexico) has reached and has lived its most important and brilliant times during the Post-classic era. Chichen Itza , Uxmal, Tulum and Coba were the main Mayan cities flourishing during this period. In the elaboration of their jewellery, metals such as gold and silver, among other precious stones and gems were used mainly as decoration and for military reasons. You may see a strong Toltec influence that comes from the conquests that reach the Yucatan Peninsula from the interior part of the today-Mexico denoting a clear Teotihuacan style, but the clearest type of architecture observed, is the Mayan Puuc style which is the oldest in the region.
Another outstanding building besides the urban-religious center of the Castle of Chichen Itza is the Temple of Warriors, different among the rest of the edifications, where the characteristic architectural technique of the Toltec -like in Teotihuacan- stands out.
In Chichen Itza you will see a really atypical building from the Maya called El Caracol, which has the shape of an actual modern astronomic observatory, which was actually the purpose of this edification, helping the Maya to be aware with such precision, of different astronomical events and cosmic phenomena.
Inside Chichen Itza premises there is also a ball game court, the best preserved found in Mesoamerica, such game gave a truly spiritual significance to the Mayan society where human sacrifice played an important role in their culture linked with their Gods and the Cosmos. If you feel curious about how this game was played a long time ago, then you should go to Xcaret Park to see a live ball game (without the sacrifice part). So take a walk around these and other Mayan remains to enjoy an imaginary journey back in time of the flourishing Chichen Itza . It is just a real Wonder!
