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El Castillo (Spanish pronunciation: [el kas'tiʎo], 'the Castle'), also known as the Temple of Kukulcan is a Mesoamerican step-pyramid that dominates the center of the Chichen Itza archaeological site in the Mexican state of Yucatán. The temple building is more formally designated by archaeologists as Chichen Itza Structure 5B18.
Elaborate stone facades in Chichen Itza's "Monjas" complex in 1902. The Maya name "Chichen Itza" means "At the mouth of the well of the Itza." This derives from chi', meaning "mouth" or "edge", and chʼen or chʼeʼen, meaning "well". Itzá is the name of an ethnic-lineage group that gained political and economic dominance of the northern ...
Kukulkan was a deity closely associated with the Itza state in the northern Yucatán Peninsula, where the religion formed the core of the Territorial religion. [7] Although the worship of Kukulkan had its origins in earlier Maya traditions, the Itza worship of Kukulkan was heavily influenced by the Quetzalcoatl religion of central Mexico. [7]
Chichen Itza is known for its stunning architecture, including an impressive pyramid structure now called El Castillo. Nearby is a sacred water-filled sinkhole called a cenote, where the bodies of ...
At the Sacred Cenote in Chichen Itza, people were hurled into the cenote during times of drought, famine or disease. The Sacred Cenote is a naturally occurring sinkhole eroded from the local limestone ; it is approximately 50 metres (160 ft) wide and drops 20 metres (66 ft) to the water surface, with the water another 20 metres (66 ft) deep.
The structure is dated to around AD 906, the Post Classic period of Mesoamerican chronology, by the stele on the Upper Platform. [1]It is suggested that the El Caracol was an ancient Mayan observatory building and provided a way for the Mayan people to observe changes in the sky due to the flattened landscape of the Yucatán with no natural markers for this function around Chichen Itza. [2]
In 1971 Tony Shearer published a book called Lord of the Dawn: Quetzalcoatl and the Tree of Life, inspiring New Age followers to visit Chichen Itza at the summer solstice when dragon-shaped shadows are cast by the Kulkulcan pyramid. [49] The legend of Quetzalcoatl is spoofed in the Adult Swim CGI series Xavier: Renegade Angel.
Researchers found that people worldwide live 9.6 years longer than they are healthy — and in the U.S. the gap is more than 12 years.