Chichen Itza translates to mean"mouth of the well of
Itza." Chichen is the best known, best restored, and arguably
most impressive Mayan ruin. It's also not entirely Mayan. Chichen
got off the ground around 550 AD. Like most Mayan cities, Chichen
was abandoned in the 10th century, then resettled around 1000 AD.
Abandoned again in the 14th century, but it remained the site for
pilgrimages for many years.
At some point around 800 the city was invaded by Toltec people
from the north, who exerted a strong influence of the subsequent
building styles. The Toltecs are the people who built Teotihuacan
near Mexico City. Besides using round buildings and pillars, the
Toltecs were more warlike than the Mayan and seemed to have a
stronger propensity to employ human sacrifice. This fierceness and
ritual difference speaks through the art and architecture of Chichen.
Chichen had two principal wells, or cenote: one sacred and the
other profane. The profane well was used for everyday needs. The
sacred well, a largish 195 feet across by 120 feet deep, was used in
worship, and offerings were continually made to it. Divers have
retrieved skeletons and many ritual objects from its depths.
On our
first trip there, our guide was very knowledgeable, he explained a
myth about a local bird and the sound it would make. And we
did get to hear it. Latter that day standing in front of the
great pyramid he told us that th e same sound could be duplicated by
clapping your hands in front of on side of the pyramid. We
tried it with the group and remarkably it did sound like the bird!!
The first
time we were there, there were no vendors or stores along the way to
the pyramid, this last time in the summer of 2005 there was a mob of
villagers trying to hawk there wares, most were friendly but some
were pushy. A friend of ours with us traded the plastic
bracelet she had on (the kind every cause has one these days) for 2 Mayan
calendars. One villagers wanted to trade my snickers for
something--needless to say I did not--I is quite rocky there!!
CHICHEN ITZA MAP
The
Chichen Itza's Mayan city represents the
most intact and impressive of the Ruins
of the Mayan civilization that the
modern world preserves. It has the
record best restored of the way of
living spiritual, domesticate, and of
the agriculture of the Mayan ancestors.
Its culture has influenced many areas of
architecture, art, and astronomy of our
modern world.
(click
on the map areas to see descriptions and
pictures of the buildings. Images may
take a few seconds to load)
The
Mayans are famous for their brilliant and
advanced astronomic knowledges. Nowadays
in the Peninsula of Yucatan and in
Chiapas's State, the Mayan culture stays,
exist about four to six million persons,
who speak approximately 30 dialects and
preserve many ethnic traditions. Many
spiritual aspects of the Mayan life and
the intention of their old cities, are
still exercised with offerings and
peregrinations to the modern Churches,
often fusing the Catholicism with the
Mayan ancient beliefs..
Around
the year 550 A. C. the Mayans settled
themselves in Chichen Itza (Mayan word
that means " the mouth of the
well"). Chichen Itza is located in a
sylvan area on limestone across which, the
rainwater slips past and is supported
between the rocks of the subsoil. These
water channels are known like "cenotes".
The cenotes, were the oasis of the
community, plenty of rainwater provided
the necessary things to live. Chichen Itza
as other Mayan centers, was firstly a
ceremonial and spiritual site instead of a
commercial area.
Chichen
Itza is nominated to be
one of the new 7 wonders of the modern
world along with the Acropolis in Athens,
the China's Great Wall, Eiffel Tower in
Paris, the Kremlin in Moscow and the
statue of liberty among others.
