chichén itzá is one of the most famous ruins in mexico. very important at it's time, it took over from uxmal, which was abundened then. on two days of the year during the equinoxes of the spring and of the autumn, the main piramid, 'el castillo', shows an animated snakebody gliding down the side of its northern stairs, by the shade the piramids levels produce (the left stairs on the image above). at the bottom of the stairs, you can still recognize the snakes had. the snake of course represents quetzalcoatl.
an other special feature of this piramid is, that it represents the mayan calender as it is. each of the nine levels devidet by the stairs gives us 18 terasses, the 18 month of 20 days each of the prehispanic calender. the four main stairs have 91 steps each, added to the top platform, this gives a total of 365, the 356 days of the solar year. towards each side, there are 52 squares on the levels front sides. a simbol for the 52 year cycle of the prehispanic calender.
the person climbing up the piramid in this image is my mother...
view to the northwest from the big pramid to the pelota court.
to the northeast you can see the temple of the warriors, where many human sacrifices were held, and the square of the thousend pillars.
chac, the mayan god of the rain is frequently found here, as well as the fethered snake, quetzalcoatl, which indicates the late influence of the aztecs.
© nikolai packard, cuernavaca, 2.8.1999 mail an mich ;-)