MAYAN CITIES

Chichen Itza, Yucatan, Mexico

View of the Castillo from the Temple of the Warriors

Chichen Itza had two periods of greatness. It was first settled in the 5th to 9th centuries, during the late classic Puuc Mayan period that is characteristic in the mountain country of the western Yucatan. The city was resettled and rebuilt after 1100 A.D. by Toltec invaders from the central Mexican highlands to the north-west. Chichen Itza was then dedicated to the feathered serpent half god Quetzalcoatl, a white bearded man with great powers who had been cast out of his homeland, and had come across the ocean to this new land.

View of the Temple of the Warriors, with the collonaded market place to it's north
View of the small temple of the jaguar at the great ballcourt, looking towards the Castillo
View of the great Castillo at the center of the city, which acted as a solstice marker
One of the many monumental serpent heads in the Toltec part of the city
View of the Puuc style Iglesia complex at the east end of the site behind the Caracol

Andreas Kultermann,andreask@interl.net
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