Is El Castillo Mayan or Aztec?
Standing at 98 feet tall, El Castillo, an ancient pyramid constructed by the Mayan people sometime between the 9th and 12th centuries, is the tallest structure in Chichen Itza.
Why is El Castillo famous?
El Castillo—in Spanish, “the castle”—looms at the center of Chichén Itzá, a 79-foot pyramid of stone. Also known as the Pyramid of Kukulkán, the structure embodies Mayan myth along with natural astronomical cycles. The phenomenon that El Castillo is famous for occurs twice each year, at the spring and fall equinoxes.
What happened at El Castillo in Chichén Itzá?
Around the spring and autumn equinoxes, the late afternoon sun strikes off the northwest corner of the pyramid and casts a series of triangular shadows against the northwest balustrade, creating the illusion of the feathered serpent “crawling” down the pyramid.
What was the purpose of El Castillo at Chichén Itzá?
In the case of El Castillo, it served as a temple to the ‘feathered serpent’ god Kukulcan. Upon arriving in Mesoamerica in the 15th century, the conquering Spanish adopted the structure as a strategic lookout, placing cannon on top of it and naming it El Castillo (‘the castle’).
Is there a cave under El Castillo?
The cave, about 1.7 miles east of El Castillo was first discovered by locals about 50 years ago. At the time, they alerted archaeologist Víctor Segovia Pinto to the find. He ordered the cavern sealed and issued a brief report, which was soon forgotten.
What is inside the pyramid at Chichen Itza?
Further excavations revealed that it had nine platforms, a single stairway, and a temple containing human remains, a jade-studded jaguar throne, and a so-called Chac Mool. The Chac Mool is a type of Maya sculpture of an abstract male figure reclining and holding a bowl used as a receptacle for sacrifices.
What is interesting about how the Mayans built El Castillo?
The most well-known structure at Chichén Itzá is the pyramid called El Castillo, built around 800 CE. Built on top of an older structure, the 79ft- (24m-) high pyramid was dedicated to Kukulcan, a Mayan snake god. Each of the four sides of the pyramid has a staircase that leads to a temple at the top.
Why did they ban climbing Chichen Itza?
But one day, a couple of tourists had an accident while they were climbing, one of them died. These visitors were older adults and maybe they felt tired and then happened the worst. Due to this event, the cultural authorities decided to ban this activity since then.
What is beneath El Castillo?
Archaeologists made a similar discovery at Chichén Itzá in the 2010s. Once again using noninvasive imaging techniques, they found what they believe to be a cenote, or large sinkhole, below the base of El Castillo.
Is it illegal to touch the pyramids?
Climbing the pyramids is also banned because it’s exceedingly dangerous, and typically anyone caught scaling the pyramids face up to three years in an Egyptian jail.
Is there a tunnel under El Castillo?
Late last year, a team of Mexican archaeologists unearthed a secret tunnel that is thought to lead beneath Chichen Itza’s iconic El Castillo pyramid to an underwater cavern.
What was on the top of the pyramids?
At the very top of the pyramid would have sat a capstone, known as a pyramidion, that may have been covered in gold. This dazzling point, shining in the intense sunlight, would have been visible for a great distance.