Chichen Itzá

Location: About 3 hours driving east of Playa del Carmen
Facilities: Parking lot, restaurant, marketplace, museum, restrooms.

The sacred city of Chichen-Itza (chee-chehn eet-sah), is rated among the most important of the Maya ancient cities and covers an area of approximately six square miles with hundreds of buildings, of which about 30 have been fully restored.

The ruins are divided into two groups. One, from the Classic Period, built between the 7th and 10th centuries A.D. The other, from the later part of the 10th century to the beginning of the 13th century A.D., corresponds to the Maya-Toltec Period. This area includes the Sacred Well.

The best known construction on the site is "El Castillo", the Pyramid of Kukulkan, a square-based, stepped pyramid approximately 75 feet tall. This pyramid was built for astronomical purposes. During the vernal equinox (March 20) and the autumnal equinox (September 21) at about 3 P.M. the sunlight bathes the western balustrade of the pyramid's main stairway. This causes seven isosceles triangles imitating the body of a serpent 37 yards long that creeps downwards until it joins the huge serpent's head carved in stone at the bottom of the stairway, representing "the descent of Kukulcan-Quetzalcoatl" (the feathered serpent).

El Caracol or The Observatory, contained a room that permitted a detailed observation of the vernal equinox, indicating the existence of important astronomical knowledge.

Every night at 8pm there's a sound and light show, when the buildings are bathed in colored light and the history and legends of Chichén Itzá are narrated.

Tour description: Take a day tour to visit beautiful Chichen Itza and see for your self some of the marvels of the ancient Maya Civilization that still prevail as glorious as they once were.

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