Essentially the most well-known and best-restored of the Yucatán Maya websites, Chichén Itzá – whereas tremendously crowded  – will impress even probably the most jaded customer. Stretching throughout 10 sq km (3.9 sq miles), the good metropolis was as soon as residence to an estimated 50,000 individuals throughout its peak greater than 900 years in the past. At this time, the positioning has an astonishing array of ruins, together with majestic temples and a towering pyramid. This is every little thing it’s essential to learn about Chichén Itzá and its historical past that will help you get probably the most out of your go to.

How a lot does it value to go to Chichén Itzá?

Admission to the positioning is M$648 (US$33). This consists of entry to the ruins in addition to the museum, positioned some 2km (1.2 miles) from the archaeological web site. When you’re planning on seeing the sound and light-weight present, you’ll need to pay a separate admission of M$772 (US$39). Drivers will even need to pay for parking (round M$120/US$6.10).

What are the opening hours and when is one of the best time to go to Chichén Itzá?

The ruins and museum open from 8am to 5pm. Chichén Itzá is all the time busy, however the crowds (and temperatures) are extra bearable within the morning. Arrive at opening time, and also you’ll have a number of hours to discover earlier than a lot of the tour buses arrive.

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How do you get to Chichén Itzá?

First-class ADO buses from Cancún, Tulum, Mérida and different main cities drop you off straight on the entrance to Chichén Itzá. From Valladolid (45km/28 miles east), there are frequent colectivos (shared vans), departing each 20 minutes or so from 2½ blocks west of the primary plaza. You can too attain Chichén Itzá by the brand new rail line Tren Maya. Nonetheless, bear in mind that the station is 7km (4.3 miles) from the ruins, so that you’ll need to hop in a connecting bus to get to the doorway.

What ought to I see at Chichén Itzá?

El Castillo (Pyramid of Kukulcán)

Upon getting into Chichén Itzá, El Castillo (aka the Pyramid of Kukulcán, which is the Maya identify for the plumed serpent god Quetzalcóatl) rises earlier than you in all its grandeur. The primary temple right here was pre-Toltec, constructed round 800 CE, however the current 25m-high (82ft) construction, constructed over the outdated one, has the plumed serpent sculpted alongside the stairways and Toltec warriors represented within the doorway carvings on the prime of the temple. You received’t see the carvings, nevertheless, as ascending the pyramid was prohibited after a deadly accident right here in 2006.

The construction is definitely an enormous Maya calendar fashioned in stone. Every of El Castillo’s 9 ranges is split in two by a staircase, making 18 separate terraces that commemorate the 18 20-day months of the Maya Obscure Yr. The 4 stairways have 91 steps every; add the highest platform and the whole is 365, the variety of days within the yr. On every facade of the pyramid are 52 flat panels, that are reminders of the 52 years within the Maya calendar spherical.

The older pyramid inside El Castillo has a crimson jaguar throne with inlaid eyes and spots of jade; additionally mendacity behind the display is a chacmool (kind of pre-Columbian sculpture). The doorway to El Túnel, the passage as much as the throne, is on the base of El Castillo’s north aspect. You’ll be able to’t go in, although.

Researchers in 2015 discovered that the pyramid probably sits atop a 20m-deep (66ft) cenote, which places the construction at higher threat of collapsing.

Grupo de las Mil Columnas

This group east of El Castillo pyramid takes its identify – which implies Group of the Thousand Columns – from the forest of pillars stretching south and east. The star attraction right here is the Templo de los Guerreros (Temple of the Warriors), adorned with stucco and stone-carved animal deities. On the prime of its steps is a traditional reclining chacmool determine, however ascending to it’s not allowed.

Lots of the columns in entrance of the temple are carved with figures of warriors. Archaeologists working in 1926 found the Temple of Chac-Mool mendacity beneath the Temple of the Warriors.

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You’ll be able to stroll by the columns on its south aspect to succeed in the Columnata Noreste, notable for the “big-nosed god” masks on its facade. Some have been reassembled on the bottom across the statue. Simply to the south are the stays of the Baño de Vapor (Steam Bathtub or Sweat Home) with an underground oven and drains for the water. The sweat homes (there are two on web site) have been commonly used for ritual purification.

Gran Juego de Pelota

The great ball court, the biggest and most spectacular in Mexico, is barely one of many metropolis’s eight courts, indicative of the significance the video games held right here. The court docket, to the left of the customer heart, is flanked by temples at both finish and is bounded by towering parallel partitions with stone rings cemented up excessive. Alongside the partitions of the ball court docket are stone reliefs, together with scenes of decapitations of gamers.

There’s proof that the ball recreation could have modified through the years. Some carvings present gamers with padding on their elbows and knees, and it’s thought that they performed a soccer-like recreation with a tough rubber ball, with the usage of fingers forbidden. Different carvings present gamers wielding bats; it seems that if a participant hit the ball by one of many stone hoops, his group was declared the winner. It might be that throughout the Toltec interval, the dropping captain, and maybe his teammates as effectively, was sacrificed.

The court docket displays some fascinating acoustics: a dialog at one finish may be heard 135m (443m) away on the different, and a clap produces a number of loud echoes.

Cenote Sagrado

From the Platform of Skulls, a 400m (1312ft) tough stone sacbé (a ceremonial path) runs north (a five-minute stroll) to the large sunken effectively that gave this metropolis its identify. The Sacred Cenote is an superior pure effectively, some 60m (197ft) in diameter and 35m (115ft) deep. The partitions between the summit and the water’s floor are ensnared in tangled vines and different vegetation.

El Caracol 

Referred to as El Caracol (the Snail) by the Spaniards for its inside spiral staircase, this observatory, to the south of the Ossuary, is without doubt one of the most fascinating and necessary of all Chichén Itzá’s buildings (however, alas, you may’t enter it). Its round design resembles some central highlands constructions, though, surprisingly, not these of Toltec Tula.

In a fusion of architectural types and non secular imagery, there are Maya Chaac (rain god) masks over 4 exterior doorways dealing with the cardinal factors. The home windows within the observatory’s dome are aligned with the looks of sure stars at particular dates. From the dome the monks decreed the instances for rituals, celebrations, corn-planting and harvests.

Edificio de las Monjas

Thought by archaeologists to have been a palace for Maya royalty, the so-called Edificio de las Monjas (Nunnery), with its myriad rooms, resembled a European convent to the conquistadors, therefore their identify for the constructing. The constructing’s dimensions are imposing: its base is 60m lengthy, 30m extensive and 20m excessive (197ft lengthy, 98 ft extensive and 66ft excessive).

The development is Maya quite than Toltec, though a Toltec sacrificial stone stands in entrance. A smaller adjoining constructing to the east, often known as La Iglesia (the Church), is roofed nearly completely with carvings.

Gran Museo de Chichén Itzá

Opened in 2024, this spacious superbly designed museum homes a trove of artifacts unearthed at Chichén Itzá. Sculptures, architectural components, collectible figurines, pottery, jewellery and different relics are displayed in massive exhibition halls that delve into Maya cosmovision, every day life, faith and human sacrifices. Fascinating authentic items date from the positioning’s earliest basis (900 BCE) to its heyday over 1000 years later. There’s additionally a recreation of the inside chamber atop the Pyramid of Kukulkán, with reproductions of the crimson jaguar throne and a sculpture of the reclining god Chac Mool. The museum is about 2.5km (1.5 miles) from the primary entrance to the ruins of Chichén Itzá and is finest reached by non-public automotive or taxi.

Sound and light-weight present

For a distinct tackle Chichén Itzá, plan a night go to throughout Noches de Kukulán, a powerful, however dear sound and light-weight present that runs Wednesday by Sunday nights. The 25-minute occasion, in Spanish solely, options projections on El Castillo, and you may also take a 45-minute self-guided tour round different dramatically lit components of the ruins earlier than the present.

Magic of the Equinox

On the vernal and autumnal equinoxes (round March 20 and September 22), the morning and afternoon solar produces a light-and-shadow phantasm of the serpent ascending or descending the aspect of El Castillo’s staircase. The phantasm is sort of nearly as good within the week previous and following every equinox (and attracts a lot smaller crowds).

Historical past of Chichén Itzá

Most archaeologists agree that the primary main settlement at Chichén Itzá, throughout the late Traditional interval, was pure Maya. In in regards to the ninth century CE, the town was largely deserted for causes unknown.

It was resettled across the late-Tenth century, and shortly thereafter it’s believed to have been invaded by the Toltec, who had migrated from their central highlands capital of Tula, north of Mexico Metropolis. The bellicose Toltec tradition was fused with that of the Maya, incorporating the cult of Quetzalcóatl (Kukulcán, in Maya). You will notice photos of each Chaac, the Maya rain god, and Quetzalcóatl, the plumed serpent, all through the town.

The substantial fusion of highland central Mexican and Puuc architectural types makes Chichén distinctive among the many Yucatán Peninsula’s ruins. The fabulous El Castillo and the Plataforma de Venus are excellent architectural works constructed throughout the peak of Toltec cultural enter.

The sanguinary Toltec contributed greater than their architectural expertise to the Maya: they elevated human sacrifice to a close to obsession, and there are quite a few carvings of the bloody ritual in Chichén demonstrating this.

After a Maya chief moved his political capital to Mayapán whereas preserving Chichén as his spiritual capital, Chichén Itzá fell into decline. Why it was subsequently deserted within the 14th century is a thriller, however the once-great metropolis remained the positioning of Maya pilgrimages for a few years.