The earliest archaeological remains found at Chichen Itza date from the 1st century AD yet the Yucatan peninsula had been inhabited for at least 8000 years. After their conquest of the holy city of Izamal, the seafaring Itza people settled in the 8th century at the enormous natural well known as Wuk Yabnal, meaning ‘Abundance Place’. Their city became known as Chichen Itza, which means ‘Mouth of the Well of the Itza’. From this site, the Itza Maya rapidly became the rulers of much of the Yucatan peninsula. Contrary to popular belief, the Maya were not an empire. Rather, they were a collection of autonomous city-states in frequent communication with other city-states in their region.

The Temple of Kukulkan, the Feathered Serpent God (also known as Quetzalcoatl to the Toltecs and Aztecs) is the largest and most important ceremonial structure at Chichen Itza. This ninety-foot tall pyramid was built during the 11th to 13th centuries directly upon the foundations of previous temples. The architecture of the pyramid encodes precise information regarding the Mayan calendar and is directionally oriented to mark the solstices and equinoxes. Studies by archaeoastronomers have revealed that other structures at Chichen Itza also have significant astronomical alignments, such as the Caracol observatory which indicates key positions of the planet Venus, particularly its southern and northern horizon extremes. Studying the ground plan of Chichen Itza and the spatial relationships between its primary temples, it is evident that the site was actually a mirror of star positions in the night skies - during the erection period of the temple complexes. This is an example of sacred geography, or terrestrial astrology, on a local scale. The Mayans also practiced sacred geography on a larger regional scale by the placement of their temple-cities at specific sites which were themselves also mirrors of the heavens.

Photo: Temple of Kukulkan, Chichen Itza, Yucatan

Sacred Sites Information on Chichen Itza.

Written by  Martin Gray.

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