Chichen Itza

Chichen Itza is a Maya city of the 7th to 12th centuries in Yucatán, Mexico, about 120 km east of Mérida and 2.5 hours by road from Cancún, known above all for the pyramid El Castillo. Three to four hours covers the main buildings, and it suits day-trippers from the Riviera Maya as well as anyone staying in Valladolid or Pisté.

Chichen Itza lies in Tinúm Municipality, about 120 kilometres east of Mérida, on the flat limestone plain of northern Yucatán. The name means at the mouth of the well of the Itza, after the natural sinkholes that gave the city water in a land with no rivers. It grew during the Late Classic period from about 600 and became the leading city of the northern Maya lowlands, with most of its great buildings raised between about 800 and 1100.

Its art and buildings mix traditional Maya styles with features once linked to central Mexico, such as feathered-serpent columns and reclining chacmool figures, showing wide trade and political ties. The city lost its regional power by about 1100 and was largely abandoned in the 13th century, though the Sacred Cenote remained a place of pilgrimage. Excavations by the Carnegie Institution from 1923 cleared and rebuilt many of the main buildings, including the Temple of the Warriors. UNESCO listed the site in 1988, and El Castillo was voted one of the New 7 Wonders in 2007.

El Castillo, the Temple of Kukulcán, rises about 30 metres in nine terraces, with four stairways of 91 steps each that together with the top platform make 365, one for each day of the year. Archaeologists found an older temple inside it holding a red jaguar throne inlaid with jade. The Great Ball Court, about 168 by 70 metres, is the largest in ancient Mesoamerica, with stone rings set high in its 8-metre walls and carved panels showing a beheaded player whose blood turns into snakes.

A raised causeway about 270 metres long leads north to the Sacred Cenote, a sinkhole about 60 metres across with steep walls, where divers have recovered jade, gold, pottery and human remains thrown in as offerings to the rain god Chaac. Other highlights include the Temple of the Warriors with its rows of carved columns, the Tzompantli platform carved with skulls, and El Caracol, a round building whose windows are thought by many researchers to track the movements of Venus.

Tickets combine a federal fee and a Yucatán state charge and are paid at the entrance. Arrive when the gates open, before the tour coaches from Cancún arrive in late morning, as there is little shade and the midday heat is strong. Allow three to four hours, and consider staying overnight in Pisté or near the site to be first in.

The site opens from 8:00 to 17:00 every day, with last entry at 16:00. ADO buses run to the entrance from Cancún, Mérida, Playa del Carmen and Valladolid, and the Tren Maya stops at Chichén Itzá station near Pisté, with shuttles to the gate. Cenote Ik Kil, 3 km away, is a popular swim after the visit.