"El Castillo", Chichen Itza

West side of El Castillo

Plumed Serpent

Ballcourt, from El Castillo

El Castillo (Spanish for "The Castle") is the nickname of a spectacular Mesoamerican step-pyramid that dominates the center of the Chichen Itza archaeological site in the Mexican state of Yucatán. In July 2007, the structure was voted one of the "New 7 Wonders of the World." Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1600x1200, 1072 KB)El Castillo at Chichén Itzá, Mexico taken November 30, 2003 by Jim Harper. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1600x1200, 1072 KB)El Castillo at Chichén Itzá, Mexico taken November 30, 2003 by Jim Harper. ... Temple of the Warriors Chichen Itza is the largest of the Pre-Columbian archaeological sites in Yucat n, Mexico. ... Image File history File links El Castillo at Chichén Itzá, or Pyramid of Kulkulkán. ... Image File history File links El Castillo at Chichén Itzá, or Pyramid of Kulkulkán. ... larger image of my photo of the serpent head at the bottom of the column on the temple of kukulcan taken may 1997 File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... larger image of my photo of the serpent head at the bottom of the column on the temple of kukulcan taken may 1997 File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... larger image of my photo of ballcourt at Chichen Itza taken May 1997 File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... larger image of my photo of ballcourt at Chichen Itza taken May 1997 File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Ulama game. ... Pierrefonds Castle, France. ... Most Ancient Mesoamerican civilisations built pyramid-shaped structures. ... Temple of the Warriors Chichen Itza is the largest of the Pre-Columbian archaeological sites in Yucat n, Mexico. ... The United Mexican States (Estados Unidos Mexicanos or Mexico) comprises 31 states (estados) and one federal district (Distrito Federal), which contains the capital, Mexico City. ... Yucatán is the name of one of the 31 states of Mexico, located on the north of the Yucatán Peninsula. ...

Built by the Maya civilization sometime between the 11th and 13th centuries AD, "El Castillo" served as a temple to the god Kukulcan (the Maya name for Quetzalcoatl). The Maya civilization is a Mesoamerican civilization, noted for the only known fully developed written language of the pre-Columbian Americas, as well as its spectacular art, monumental architecture, and sophisticated mathematical and astronomical systems. ... Temple of Hephaestus, an Doric Greek temple in Athens with the original entrance facing east, 449 BC (western face depicted) For other uses, see Temple (disambiguation). ... In Maya mythology, Gukumatz (feathered serpent) was a snake god, one of all three groups of gods who created Earth and humanity. ... Maya language may refer to: generally, any one of the various Mayan languages, a related group of languages spoken by the Maya peoples of Mesoamerica specifically, Yukatek (Yucatec) Maya language is frequently referred to simply as Maya language Maya language (Brazil), an unclassified language of Brazil that may be related... It has been suggested that this article be split into multiple articles. ...

It is a step pyramid with a ground plan of square terraces with stairways up each of the four sides to the temple on top. Great sculptures of plumed serpents run down the sides of the northern staircase, and are set off by shadows from the corner tiers on the spring and autumn equinoxes. The Pyramid of the Moon, Teotihuacan, is one example of an enormous step pyramid. ... In astronomy, the vernal equinox (spring equinox, March equinox, or northward equinox) is the equinox at the beginning of spring in the northern hemisphere: the moment when the sun appears to cross the celestial equator, heading northward. ... In astronomy, the autumnal equinox signals the beginning of autumn in the northern hemisphere: the moment when the sun appears to cross the celestial equator, heading southward; the equinox occurs around September 22–September 24, varying slightly each year according to the 400-year cycle of leap years in...

The Mexican government restored the pyramid in the 1920s and 1930s, concurrent with the Carnegie Institution’s restoration of the Temple of Warriors. Archaeologists were able to reconstruct two sides of the pyramid in their entirety. The Carnegie Institution of Washington (CIW) is a foundation established by Andrew Carnegie in 1902 to support scientific research. ...

Mesoamerican cultures periodically built larger pyramids atop older ones, and this is one such example. In the mid 1930s, the Mexican government sponsored an excavation into El Castillo. After several false starts, they discovered a staircase under the north side of the pyramid. By digging from the top, they found another temple buried below the current one. Inside the temple chamber was a Chac Mool statue and a throne in the shape of jaguar, painted red with spots made of inlaid jade. Chac Mool statue from the Chichen Itza site Chac-Mool is the name given to a type of Pre-Columbian Mesoamerican stone altar. ...

The Mexican government excavated a tunnel from the base of the north staircase, up the earlier pyramid’s stairway to the hidden temple, and opened it to tourists. In 2006, Mexico's National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH), which manages the archaeological zone, closed the throne room to the public. The Mexican Institute Nacional de Antropología e Historia (National Institute of Anthropology and History known as INAH for its Spanish abbreviation) is the federal government bureau established in 1939 to guarantee the research, preservation, protection, and promotion of the prehistoric, archaeological, anthropological, historical, and paleontological heritage of Mexico. ...

Each of the structure's four stairways contain 91 steps. When counting the top platform as another step, in total El Castillo has 365 steps, one step for each day of the approximated tropical year recorded by the portion of the Maya calendar known as the Haab'. The structure is 24 m high, plus an additional 6 m for the temple. The square base measures 55.3 m across. A tropical year is the length of time that the Sun, as viewed from the Earth, takes to return to the same position along the ecliptic (its path among the stars on the celestial sphere). ... The Maya calendar is actually a system of distinct calendars and almanacs used by the Maya civilization of pre-Columbian Mesoamerica, and by some modern Maya communities in highland Guatemala. ... The Maya Haab calendar is a 365-day solar calendar whose dates indicate the position of the Sun at noon relative to the zenith over the Yucatan peninsula. ... The metre or meter is a measure of length. ...

The overall structure has nine levels, which may be a parallel to the Maya cosmological view of there being nine levels in the Maya 'Underworlds'. We are lead to believe this because of the staircase in the center of the pyramid having 13 levels, the number of levels in the "upper worlds".^{[citation needed]} This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ...

In the 1530s Conquistador Francisco de Montejo the younger used this building as his fortress, with cannon mounted atop it during the Spanish conquest of Yucatán. Centuries: 15th century - 16th century - 17th century Decades: 1480s 1490s 1500s 1510s 1520s - 1530s - 1540s 1550s 1560s 1570s 1580s Years: 1530 1531 1532 1533 1534 1535 1536 1537 1538 1539 Events and Trends Spanish conquest of Peru Beginning of colonization of Brazil Categories: 1530s ... The Spanish Conquest of Yucatán was the campaign undertaken by the Spanish conquistadores against the Late Postclassic Maya states and polities, particularly in the northern and central Yucatán Peninsula but also involving the Maya polities of the Guatemalan highlands region. ...

Today "El Castillo" is one of the most popular and recognized tourist sites of Mexico. It's most notable feature is its Sacred Cenote or Well of Sacrifice into which human sacrifices were thrown.^[1] Sacred Cenote at Chichén Itzá Sacred Cenote (Well of Sacrifice) is a noted cenote at the Mayan site of Chichen Itza. ...

Notes

1. ^ Coe, Michael D. (1999). The Maya, Sixth edition, New York: Thames & Hudson, p. 176. ISBN 0-500-28066-5. 

Coordinates: 20.6828° N 88.5686° W Map of Earth showing lines of latitude (horizontally) and longitude (vertically), Eckert VI projection; large version (pdf, 1. ...