Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
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 ...
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.
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 ...
A panorama of the Mayapan excavations from the top of the Castle of King Kukulcan. The ethnohistorical sources – such as Diego de Landa's Relacion de las Cosas de Yucatan, compiled from native sources in the 16th century – recount that the site was founded by Kukulcan (the Mayan name of Quetzalcoatl, the Toltec king, culture hero, and demigod) after the fall of Chichen Itza.
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]
Pyramid of Kukulcán, Chichen Itza. Chichen Itza in Tinúm , Yucatán: an ancient Mayan city; according to some testimonies, the site is haunted by several entities, from ancient ghosts of sacrificed people [ 126 ] and Aluxes – fairy-like spirits in Mayan folklore [ 127 ] – to aliens.
Maya chacmool from Chichen Itza, excavated by Le Plongeon in 1875, now displayed at the National Museum of Anthropology in Mexico City. A chacmool (also spelled chac-mool or Chac Mool) is a form of pre-Columbian Mesoamerican sculpture depicting a reclining figure with its head facing 90 degrees from the front, supporting itself on its elbows and supporting a bowl or a disk upon its stomach.