Worldwide interest in the heritage of the Mayan civilization continues. Numerous religious and cult mysteries, gloomy predictions and the most accurate calendars, gigantic ruined cities, among which the most famous is Chichen Itza, invariably attract crowds of tourists and curious. The name itself Chichen Itza from the Mayan language it is translated as "the well of the Mayan tribe", due to the fact that there are 13 cenotes (natural wells) on the territory of the ancient city.

Chichen Itza: History of the City

Based on archaeological data and scraps of ancient chronicles, the researchers concluded that famous city Maya was founded in the 5-6th centuries AD. It immediately became the center of the Yucatan territory: political, religious, cultural. According to some reports (all statements regarding Chichen Itza are not confirmed and are hypotheses that require proof, which are almost impossible to find), from 20 to 30 thousand inhabitants permanently lived in the city. Countless pilgrims and wanderers, merchants and money changers visited this settlement every year.

In the 10th century, the Maya were conquered by the Taltecs, the city was partially plundered and abandoned for the most part population. But life did not leave him. The decline falls on the 13th century from the birth of Christ. Buildings collapsed, people left Chichen Itza. Since the 15th century, herds of cattle have been grazing on a territory that was once rich, prosperous and populous.

For a long time, no one showed interest in the majestic and ominous ruins. From the middle of the 19th century, a passion for culture, astrology, and most importantly, the legendary riches of the Maya began. The site began scattered, but numerous excavations, studies, artists and photographers from all over the world came to capture the bizarre buildings and mysterious temples.

In the second half of the last century, the Mexican government decided to restore (as far as possible) the original appearance of Chichen Itza. This place has become a Mecca for tourists.

In 2007 ancient city Chichen Itza Mexico included in the UNESCO World Heritage List. The Mayan city of Chichen Itza has been named one of the 7 New Wonders of the World. Tuzha might have hit, but not destiny.

Chichen Itza, Mexico and the Artistic Value of the Ruins

The area of ​​the city is about 6 km. sq. The surviving architectural complexes are numerous and, if you study them in detail, consider each relief and column, one day to visit will not be enough. Unfortunately, excursions organized from Cancun are only one-day. Spend the night in Chichen Itza nowhere, and creepy.

A professional guide will lead the group along paved roads that have been perfectly preserved for a dozen and a half centuries, and will show and tell about everyone places of worship cities. The most significant and huge of them is Chichen Itza pyramid called Kukulkan "Feathered Serpent". The guide will entertain (and scare someone) with legends about bloody sacrifices, cruelty and religious beliefs of an ancient tribe. The Temple of Warriors will amaze you with its realistic reliefs and sculptures; it is easy to get lost in the group of "a thousand columns". The "ball game" site will surprise you with the size of its territory and will give you goosebumps with images of severed heads.

The excursion includes a visit to the sacred cenote - a natural reservoir with a diameter of 60 m. The depth is almost the same. There is evidence that the Maya threw girls and children into this "lake", as well as numerous objects of worship, asking their deities for rain.

The ancient city of Chichen Itza- Mayan heritage; the most ancient city on the Yucatan Peninsula. Located 120 km from the capital of the region - the city of Merida, and 205 km from popular resort Cancun. Probably everyone who has ever been to Mexico wanted to see the remnants of this ancient settlement, which is ranked among the new wonders of the world. Chichen Itza is included in the version of our website.

it special place, where the Maya Indians once lived and worshiped their gods. For unknown reasons, they were forced to leave the city, which later became the prey of the conquerors: first the Toltecs, and then the Spaniards. In the Mayan language, the sonorous name of the settlement was translated as "The mouth of the well of the Itza tribe." It is no coincidence that the word "well" appears in this phrase, because 13 cenotes, the so-called natural wells, were dug on the territory of the city.

By the way, one of these wells "Sacred Cenote" served for sacrifices to the God of Water. On the territory of the deserted settlement, famous Temple Kukulkan, with which many symbolic things are connected. It is a pyramidal structure, on top of which there is a temple for sacrifices. Visitors are not allowed to go up to the temple. There are 4 wide staircases leading upstairs, each of which consists of 91 steps.

If you multiply the number of stairs by the number of steps and add one to the resulting number, you get the number 365, that is, exactly as many as there are days in a year. In addition, every year on the days of the spring and autumn equinox, an unforgettable show takes place on the stairs of the pyramid. At about 3 pm, the sun illuminates the front staircase so that shadows appear in the form of triangles that fold into the tail of a snake. Because of this, Kukulkan is sometimes referred to as the Pyramid of the Feathered Serpent. In the evenings, a similar artificial light show can be seen in Chichen Itza.

Many tourists linger on a huge area created for brutal ball games. The ancient Maya ball was so heavy that you could only hit it with your hip. Well, as expected, each game ended with a sacrifice. According to the chronology, the city was founded, possibly in the 7th century A.D. as the religious center of the Mexican tribe. Today, the remains of buildings are conventionally divided into two parts: old and new. The most significant structures are located in the new central part. There are souvenir shops and cafes at the entrance to the complex.

The most convenient way to reach the ruins is by bus from Merida or Cancun. You can also drive your rental car to Chichen Itza. The path runs both toll (shorter) and free roads.

Location: Mexico
Main attractions: temple of Kukulkan, temple of warriors, temple of jaguars, observatory, sacred cenote
Coordinates: 20 ° 41 "01.0" N 88 ° 34 "08.4" W

The ancient Mayan city - Chichen Itza, located in Mexico in the north of the Yucatan Peninsula, is steeped in sinister glory. It is here, 300 meters north of the main buildings of the city, that the Sacred Cenote, or "Well of Death", about 50 meters deep, is located at the bottom of which, according to Mayan legends, the rain god Chak lived.

The ancient city of Chichen Itza from a bird's eye view

To appease God and cause rain, the Maya made human sacrifices, throwing the most beautiful girls to the bottom of the well. Following the victims, rich gifts were thrown into the cenote - gold, jade, rock crystal, mother-of-pearl, amber, copper, onyx, etc.

The legend of the sacrifices was confirmed by Mexican scientists who sank to the bottom of the well. Although the well has not been used by the Maya for a long time, many people still believe in its supernatural power. It is believed that if you throw a coin into the water and make a wish, then it will certainly come true.

Temple of Kukulkan

A brief history of Chichen Itza

The name of the ancient city of Chichen Itza is translated as "Well of the Itza tribe." The city was founded in the 7th century AD. NS. as a Mayan religious center, and by the 10th century it was captured by the Toltecs who came to Yucatan from central Mexico, and by the 11th century it became the capital of the Toltec kingdom. In 1178, the Indian ruler Hunak Keel sacked the Mayan sanctuary, turning it into a miserable heap of ruins. The city fell into decay and became depopulated.

Temple of Warriors

Return of the Feathered Serpent

Chichen Itza is considered the most famous and best restored Mayan city. The main temple of Chichen Itza is dedicated to the deity Kukulkan - "The Feathered Serpent". The 30-meter pyramid of Kukulkan rises on a huge stone terrace. Four staircases, oriented to the cardinal points, lead to the top of the ritual structure, where the ancient Maya performed sacrifices. The stairs are framed by a balustrade that begins at the bottom with a serpentine head carved in stone and continues in the form of a curving serpentine body to the top of the pyramid.

Observatory

Every year on the days of the spring and autumn equinox, that is, March 20 and September 22, one can observe unique phenomenon"Feathered Serpent": the sun illuminates the balustrade in such a way that the shadow of the "Feathered Serpent" forms on the pyramid, which creeps down and disappears exactly 3 hours and 22 minutes.

All four staircases of the temple have 91 steps, and together with the platform terrace connecting them together, there are 365 steps (91 x 4 + 1), which corresponds to the number of days in a year.

Jaguar temple

Treasures of the pyramid of Kukulkan

In one of the secret rooms of the Kukulkan pyramid, archaeologists discovered the "Jaguar Mat" and the ritual figure of Chuck Mool with a flat bowl on his stomach, on which the heart of the sacrifice was burned. The "Jaguar Mat" is a throne carved out of stone in the shape of a jaguar body and painted a fiery red color. The spots on the skin of the animal are made of jade stones. The eyes are also jade, and the fangs in the bared mouth are carved from volcanic stone.

Large ball field

Other attractions of Chichen Itza

Important buildings of Chitzen Itza are the Temple of Warriors and the Temple of the Jaguars, whose walls are decorated with paintings... So, in the Temple of the Jaguars, images of jaguars and eagles devouring human hearts are carved. On the south side of the Temple of Warriors is the "Group of a Thousand Columns". It consists of the ruins of four colonnades, forming a giant rectangle. There is in Chichen Itza and its own observatory "Caracol", designed to observe the planets and in particular for Venus.

Sacred cenote

It is a circular building with small windows, towering on a double stone platform. A spiral staircase was built inside this structure, which has a spiral shape like a mollusk shell. Hence the name of the observatory - "Caracol", which is translated from Spanish as "snail". One of the oldest buildings in the city - the Nuns' Palace is interesting for its stone carvings and masks of the god Chak. Chichen Itza has seven ball courts, including the largest "stadium" the Maya have ever built.

Venus platform

Since the ball game was of ritual significance for the Maya, the losers were sacrificed. The inhabitants of Chichen Itza were excellent craftsmen and artists. This is evidenced by the sculptures of deities preserved in the city, bas-reliefs with plant and geometric ornaments carved on them, handicrafts, etc.

The ancient city of Chichen Itza is located in the north of the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico and is the 7th wonder of the world. The great temples and pyramids of Chichen Itza are amazing. The huge pyramid of Kukulkan is the center of the city of Chichen Itza.

Kukulkan: the right side of the pyramid has been restored, the left has not been restored Karakol - ancient Observatory

Chichen Itza is a city of the Mayan civilization, well preserved from antiquity, built in accordance with the religious beliefs of this people. We can immediately say that all Mayan cities were built taking into account the positions of the heavenly bodies and stars.

Once the city of Chichen Itza was the center of the culture of several Indian peoples. Its name is translated as "a place at the well of the Itza tribe." Such peoples as Maya, Toltecs, Itza left their mark in the city of Chichen Itza.

Now this city in Mexico is the object of the world cultural heritage UNESCO.

This seventh wonder of the world is located in the north of the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico. The ancient city of Chichen Itza is 205 kilometers away from the famous resort of Cancun and 120 kilometers from Merida. Not far from it (1.5 kilometers) is the small town of Piste.

The popularity of the ancient city

Chichen Itza is one of the most popular places in the Yucatan and in Mexico in general. It is in second place in terms of attendance among the ancient cities, ahead only of Teotihuacan ().

It is estimated that the number of tourists who visit this archaeological site exceeds a million per year. A huge influx was observed here in December 2012, because it was at this time that the Mayan calendar was supposed to end. Many people wanted to spend the end of the world in the archaeological complex of Chichen Itza.

Currently, you can come to Chichen Itza with a 1-day excursion from both Cancun and Merida.

City `s history

The beginning of the history of the city dates back to the 6th century AD. Then it was one of the largest cities of the Mayan civilization. South part the ancient city was built in accordance with the traditions of the Mayan people.

In the 10th century, the city after the capture was dominated by the Toltecs, who arrived here from Central Mexico. Later, from about half of the 11th century, Chichen Itza became the capital and center of the Toltec state.

Bloody sacrifices began here precisely because of this people. All Northern part the city bears witness to their presence. A century later, the city was defeated by a huge army, which included the warriors of three states - Uxmal, Mayapan, Itzmal.

Chichen Itza was defeated by the ruler Hunak Keel. Later the city was deserted and turned into ruins (this is how the Europeans discovered it).

Many treasures were stolen by the Spaniards and the manuscripts were destroyed.

Therefore, very little can be said about history, but it is assumed that if it were not for the actions of the Europeans, archaeologists could have discovered many unique finds. In 1923, archaeological excavations began in Mexico, and now about 6 square kilometers the ancient city is on the surface.

Pyramid of Kukulkan in the city of Chichen Itza

The very first structure that strikes the eye is the huge pyramid of Kukulkan. It is the center of the city of Chichen Itza. In Spanish, it is called El Castillo, that is, "castle".

The total height of the Kukulkan pyramid is 24 meters. The pyramid has nine tiers, and a temple is located at the very top.

Kukulkan, like any pyramid, has 4 faces, which are directed to 4 cardinal directions. And on each side a wide staircase leads upstairs, which are decorated with snake heads below.

The path leads to the main northern staircase of the pyramid. To go upstairs, you must overcome a certain number of steps - there are 91 of them.

Interestingly, the total number of steps on the pyramid, including the upper platform, is 365, that is, an equal number of days in a year.

Such a coincidence suggests that this pyramid may have a certain relation to the calendar, or it has an astronomical significance.

At the very top is a temple where sacrifices were performed in ancient times.

Studies have shown that great pyramid was built on top of even more ancient pyramid, into which there is a hole in the floor of the sanctuary.

In the hidden rooms of the Kukulkan pyramid, archaeologists have discovered two main antiquities: the "Jaguar Mat" and the figure of Chaak Mool, the rain god.

• "Jaguar Mat"- is a stone throne in the shape of a jaguar, the paint on it is fiery red, it is a symbol of the power of the ruler of the city. The very first owner of this throne, according to legend, was Quetzalcoatl. The spots on the animal body and the animal's eyes are made of jade. The fangs are carved from volcanic stone.
• - made for ritual purposes. On her belly she has a flat bowl on which the victim's heart was placed for subsequent burning.

The second name of the building of Kukulkan is the Pyramid of the Feathered Serpent (the most accurate translation: the feathered serpent). First, this pyramid and temple are dedicated to this deity. Secondly, the name is associated with a specific phenomenon.

Light illusion of Kukulkana - a play of shadows on the edges of the pyramid

Every year at the equinox, an event takes place here that attracts people to Mexico. At 3 pm, the pyramid is illuminated so that the staircase casts a shadow - a series of triangles that collectively resemble a snake's tail.

During the movement of the luminary in the firmament, the triangles alternately extinguish, thus, it seems that this is the tail of a huge serpent, 37 meters long, moving downward.

Now such a phenomenon can be seen not only on certain days, there is a light show every evening.

Kukulkan: the right side of the pyramid has been restored, the left has not been restored

Find out more about the pyramid of Kukulkan on our website - "Pyramid of Kukulkan - the ancient Mayan god"

Temples of the ancient city of Chichen Itza

The Temple of the Warriors, like the Temple of the Jaguars, are important buildings in the city of Chichen Itza. Both stand on small pyramids with 4 steps. Both have many murals.

Temple of Warriors

The Temple of Warriors is on west side from the pyramid of Kikulkan. It has four platforms, and on three sides around it you can see rows of three-meter stone columns. They are called the Group of a Thousand Columns.

The pillars are skillfully carved from stone, and represent the Toltec warriors, as if standing in formation. Once they supported the roof.

On the south side of the temple there is a small building called the Market.

The upper sanctuary also once had a roof, now it is not, and at the top there are two "snakes" that guarded the passage to the temple.

There is also a statue of a man in a reclining position on the platform. This is Chaak Mool - the rain god.

The Jaguar Temple has two shrines: the upper and the lower. The upper elite watched the game on the pitch.

At the entrance to the lower sanctuary, you can see the figure of the jaguar, thanks to which the temple got its name.

Another structure is called the Temple or the tomb of the great priest. During the Mayan times, he played an important role.

Externally, the structure is similar to other temples with pyramids. But its difference is that inside there is a passage to the cave underground. Ancient burials of noble people were discovered there.

The second name of this structure is Osuari, in other words the crypt.

Other attractions

In addition to the temples, the city of Chichen Itza has other interesting places.

The Sacred Cenote is a huge well. Its diameter is approximately 60 meters, and the depth of the well is 50 meters. There is water in it, from edge to surface about 20 meters.

The well served as the place where the sacrificed young girls were thrown. Therefore, the second name of this object is the Death Well.

Ball fields

There are 9 ball courts on the territory of the archaeological complex. This game was somewhat similar to modern basketball, only it was played with a heavy rubber ball, you could only hit it with your hip. Instead of ordinary baskets, stone rings are attached to the walls.

The found sites are quite large, the largest is located in the northern part of the complex. Its dimensions: length - 160 meters, width - 70. The entire field is surrounded by eight-meter walls, they depict scenes of torment of the losing players and many skulls.

Karakol Tower - Ancient Observatory

One more ancient structure- Karakol. This is a tower on two platforms, it was used to observe celestial astronomical objects. It is often called the Observatory.

Chichen Itza is the most famous ancient city of Yucatan. Object status World heritage UNESCO and the inclusion in the list of the New Seven Wonders of the World has caused a surge in tourist interest, and now this complex is the second most visited place archaeological site in Mexico. An estimated 1.2 million tourists visit the ruins every year. Despite the massive influx of visitors, Chichen Itza continues to impress even the most jaded tourists. Walk in the middle stone temples, pyramids, ball fields gives you the opportunity to truly experience the greatness of the ancient city.

The legendary ruins of Chichen Itza are among the best-preserved archaeological sites in Mexico. Despite this, much of what is written and said about this city is based on guesses and assumptions. One hundred percent we can confidently say that people mastered this place in the 4th century; the urban community emerged with the construction of the first temple in the 7th century; the city came under the rule of the Toltecs in the 10th century.

In the following centuries, Chichen Itza reached the pinnacle of prosperity and became the most powerful city on the Yucatan Peninsula. Most of the grandiose structures were built during this period.

At the end of the 12th century, the city lost its political power, gradually began to decline and was abandoned. The inhabitants of Chichen Itza left behind an impressive architectural and scientific heritage, but left no known record of why they left their homes. The constructed monuments began to gradually deteriorate, overgrown with jungle, but archaeologists rediscovered them to the world in the 1920s. The ancient structures were cleared, reconstructed, and the archaeological complex began to attract tourists.

Chichen Itza consists of two parts: the central (new) zone and the southern (old) zone. The most important structures are located in the new zone.

El Castillo

When the Toltecs came to Chichen Itza, they combined their knowledge of cosmology with the Maya, resulting in the pyramid of El Castillo (also called the pyramid of Kukulkan). Dedicated to Kukulcan, the god of wind and rain in the form of a feathered serpent with a human head, El Castillo is one of the most famous and most visited pre-Columbian structures in modern Mexico. Built a thousand years ago with the simplest tools, El Castillo is considered the most important symbol of Chichen Itza. In 2007, the monument was included in the list of the New Seven Wonders of the World.

El Castillo's architecture is filled with symbolism. Many secrets of the Mayan astronomical calendar become clear when you delve into the essence of the architecture of the "Temple of Time". The four stairs leading to the central platform have 91 steps each, for a total of 364, which corresponds to the number of days in a year. The platform at the top of the temple joins 4 stairs together to create the number 365, which corresponds to the number of days in a leap year. On each side of the pyramid there are 18 terraces (9 on each side of the steps), which is equal to the number of months in solar calendar Mayan.

The Mayan calendar consisted of two parallel cycles: the civilian 365-day shiupoualli and the ritual 260-day tonalpoulli. Shiupoualli and tonalpoalli coincided every 52 years.

On each of the four sides of the El Castillo pyramid, there are 52 stone reliefs. They represent the coincidence of these two cycles every 52 years.

The pyramid of El Castillo attracts especially many visitors on the days of the autumn and spring equinoxes. During sunset, the shadow from the corner of the stepped terraces of the pyramid falls on the balustrade of the steps on the north side (see photo). It seems that the Feathered Serpent is slowly descending to the ground. The illusion is almost as noticeable in the week before and after the spring and fall equinox.
The Maya often built new pyramid temples on top of the previous ones. After several unsuccessful attempts, archaeologists were able to discover a tunnel leading to the premises of an earlier temple. A figure of Chak-Mool and a throne in the shape of a jaguar were found here.

The National Institute of Anthropology and History of Mexico (INAH), which manages the Chichen Itza archaeological site, banned the ascent of El Castillo in 2006. At the same time, public access to the inner hall was closed for more ancient temple... Visitors can still walk around the monument, but going up or going inside is prohibited.

Main ball court

Chichen Itza has nine ball courts. The largest of these, Juego de Pelota (pictured), is located northwest of El Castillo. It is the largest and best-preserved ball court of any of its kind in Mesoamerica (168 m long, 70 m wide). During the game, the players tried to throw a heavy rubber ball into a stone hoop set high in the wall. The acoustics of the ball field are so good that conversation from one side is clearly audible at the opposite end.

The games were colorful spectacles, and participation in them ended with a sacrifice for some of its participants. An interesting detail: the researchers are not sure whether the players on the losing team were sacrificed. On the wall of the ball court, there is an image of a decapitated player kneeling, blood draining from his neck and turning into a snake, another player holding his head in his hands. Other images on the walls show the players' equipment.

To the right of the ball court is the Tzompantli (Temple of Skulls). The name comes from the images of a series of skulls carved on a stone platform. When the victim was decapitated, the head was placed on a pole and placed in a row one after the other.

Temple of Warriors

To the east of El Castillo is another famous building of Chichen Itza: Templo de los Guerreros (Temple of the Warriors). The temple consists of four platforms, surrounded on three sides by round and square columns. Square columns are carved in the shape of Toltec warriors, hence the name - Temple of Warriors. During the recent restoration, some of the columns were restored and put in their original place. At the top of the Temple of Warriors, there is a sculpture of Chaak-Mool in the form of a reclining man, the meaning of this figure is unknown to researchers.

El-Karakol (Observatory)

The observatory is another famous landmark of Chichen Itza. The Spanish word El Caracol means "spiral staircase" (inside there is a spiral staircase). The round vault of El-Karakol was built and rebuilt several times during the entire operation of the Observatory. Through the holes in the walls of the tower, Mayan astronomers observed the movements of the movement of Venus, the Sun, the Moon and other celestial bodies, calculated the spring and autumn days of the equinox, the day of the summer solstice. Maya astronomical skills even helped predict solar eclipses.

Sacred cenote

The Yucatan Peninsula is a limestone plain without rivers and streams. The only source fresh water served as cenotes (karst sinkholes or wells), in which groundwater came to the surface. Cenotes are scattered throughout the Yucatan Peninsula, but the Sacred Cenote of Chichen Itza (Cenote Sagrado) was the most important to the Maya. It is located at a distance of 5-7 minutes walk from El Castillo.
The sacred cenote was used for ceremonial purposes: donations were thrown here and human sacrifices were made. It was believed that the god of lightning, water and rain Chuck dwells at the bottom. Sacred cenote in order to pacify him, the person was deprived of life.
Professor of Harvard University and American Consul in Merida (Merida - the administrative center of Yucatan) Herbert Thompson investigated the Sacred Cenote from 1904 to 1910 and recovered from there numerous objects of gold, jade, ceramics, obsidian, rubber, as well as the remains of human bodies. Most of the discovered treasures ended up in the Peabody Museum of Archeology and Ethnology (a museum at Harvard University). None of the items found were made from materials mined in the Yucatan, meaning the Mayans traveled to Chichen Itza from elsewhere. Central America for worship and sacrifices.

Osario

Osario translated from Spanish means “cemetery”. Like El Castillo, it is a stepped pyramid with a temple on top, but only on a scaled down scale. Like its larger neighbor, it has four faces with stairs on each side. But unlike El Castillo, there is a pyramid hole in the center leading into a cave 12 meters deep below ground level. Herbert Thompson excavated this cave in the late 19th century, found several skeletons and artifacts, and called it the Tomb of the High Priest (Tumba del Gran Sacerdote). Since that time, it has had two names.

Interesting places near Chichen Itza

Cenote Ik Kiel

Cenote Ik Kil is located less than 3 km from Chichen Itza. The cenote looks unusually spectacular, with tropical vegetation and tree roots stretching from above to the very surface of the water. Tours to Chichen Itza often include a visit to Ik Kil. These tours are the main source of income for the Ik Kil Archaeological Park. A ladder has been carved into the karst rock to descend to the bathing platform. The cenote is open for swimming from 08:00 am to 6:00 pm every day. It is best to swim until 11:30, before the influx of tourists. It offers tourists a cottage, restaurant, gift shop, changing rooms.

In 2010 and 2011, Ik Kiel hosted the next stage of the Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series - a series of acrobatic diving competitions that gained wide popularity in the world due to the spectacular diving sites and the skill of the participants.

Balankancha cave

The Balankanché Cave is located 5.5 km from Chichen Itza on the way to Cancun. The whole tour takes about half an hour. A small underground river flows in the middle of the cave, but its main attraction is the column in the center, which resembles a large tree. Outside you can wander around botanical garden and look at plants that are exotic for us.

Chichen Itza - useful information

The territory of the archaeological complex is oversaturated with small commerce, many sellers attract the attention of visitors with the words "only 1 dollar" or "only 1 peso". Please note that this is not the value of the items they are selling. As soon as you want to buy something for "only 1 dollar", they will popularly explain to you that the discount is 1 dollar or 1 peso and start bargaining further. Feel free to leave, they will follow you and offer you a bargain. This is Mexico, this is the order of things here.

The inclusion of Chichen Itza as one of the New Seven Wonders of the World in 2007 sparked a surge of interest and now the archaeological site is literally flooded with tourists. To better appreciate the magic of the ancient city, you must arrive at the opening time at 8 o'clock in the morning. Then you will have about 3 hours before the massive influx of tourists from Cancun.

Especially many tourists visit Chichen Itza in the days of the spring and autumn equinox, in order to see the shadow of the "living serpent" on the pyramid of El Castillo in the afternoon. This illusion is almost as clearly visible in the week before and after the spring and autumn equinox, but there are noticeably fewer tourists.

Bring cash pesos with you, as currency exchange can be problematic here, especially on weekends.

Show of light and sound. After visiting the ruins during the day, you can go back and with the same tickets attend the night Show of light and sound. The show lasts about an hour and is accompanied by a story about the history of the ancient city. The story is in Spanish, but you can listen to the translation using headphones for an additional fee. Another option is to arrive at the complex in the afternoon, see the Show of Light and Sound, and the next day to visit the ruins - visiting the archaeological complex on the first evening gives a discount the next day, so the price of the visit will be almost the same.

Most tourists visit Chichen Itza from Cancun, a popular Mexican resort (2.5 hours drive), and Merida, the capital of Yucatan (1.5 hours drive). It is advisable to avoid a one-day visit to Chichen Itza and plan to spend one night here in a nearby hotel. If you stay overnight, you will have the opportunity to watch the Sound and Light Show in the evening, visit the archaeological complex in the morning, when it is not so hot yet and there are practically no tourists. Chichen Itza is a huge archaeological complex. If you use one day excursion from Cancun, the time allotted will obviously not be enough to truly appreciate this place.

At the entrance to the territory of the archaeological complex there is a museum, a restaurant, book store, English-speaking and Spanish-speaking guides are available to tourists.

Video about Chichen Itza