Chichen Itza Travel Guide
Chichen Itza is the largest of Mexicos ancient Mayan cities and is one of the countrys most visited tourist attractions.
It is also one of the New 7 Wonders Of The World and it is easy to see why!
An important centre for pilgrimage for 1,000 years, Chichen Itza (which means At the mouth of the well of Itza) gradually became a major Mayan community when the Toltec ruler Kukulcan arrived with his followers in 987 and turned Chichen Itza into the most powerful city in the Yucatan. Kukulcan named himself after the Feathered Serpent god Quetzalcoatl, but it was the Rain God Chac that had been the primary reason for pilgrimage and worship before then.
Not surprisingly perhaps, the Maya people eventually revolted against their rulers in 1221 and the city fell into gradual decline as a developing society, and was further hit when the Spanish Conquistadors came invading in the 16th century when it is believed the great city and temples was already under forestation.
Due to the lack of written records of the time, it is difficult to say when and how the society completely fell away, but it did until the city finally saw the light of the day again in the 1920s when archaeological expeditions uncovered the abandoned Chichen Itza and its magnificent temples that had lain covered in jungle and undergrowth for hundreds of decades.
The site is a fine example of Mayan engineering and construction and features dozens of marvellous buildings in various states of repair and restoration. A complex system of paved roads was established called saceob which criss-crossed throughout the city forming a network to connect the buildings together. These buildings were grouped in sets each within its own low walled complex.
The Great North Platform, The Ossario Group and The Central Group are the three most famous of these social sets, though there are many temples, pyramids, courts, sweatbaths, royal palaces and dwellings to admire and marvel at when one visits.
It now attracts millions of visitors every year and was granted World Heritage Site status in 1988 by UNESCO.