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Mark Moxon's Travel Writing

Mexico: Chichén Itzá

El Castillo
El Castillo

There are some people on the travelling circuit who grumble about Chichén Itzá, usually because it annoys them that it's one of the most popular tourist sites in Mexico, and they're the kind of people who just don't do populism, man; or perhaps they're travelling on a tight budget, and they complain about the price of a ticket, which at 182 pesos (about £9) is considerably more than, say, Tulum's 57 pesos (though it's hardly a big ask for such a world-class site). But there's a reason why 1.2 million people visit the ruins of this ancient Mayan city each year, and that's because it's amazing. And even if you don't like crowds, I wouldn't worry, because it's such a big site that it's easy to look past the hordes of tour groups and Mayan hawkers, and just enjoy staring at the magnificent architecture instead.

The High Priest's Grave
The High Priest's Grave
A hawker stall selling masks
A hawker stall selling masks

Pyramids, Ball Games and Skulls

The Great Ball Court
The Great Ball Court

After a short walk along a path that's lined with Mayan stands selling all manner of tourist tack, from models of Mayan pyramids to skull masks, the first building looms up in front of you, and it's absolutely immense. El Castillo – which is what the Spanish called the Pyramid of Kukulcán – is a 25m-high pyramid with steps up each of the four sides, though unfortunately you aren't allowed to climb them. It dominates a large grassy expanse with a number of other large buildings dotted around the edges, most of which had ritual or administrative uses in the life of the ancient city, not unlike the centre of a modern town. It's an atmospheric sight, but there's a lot more to Chichén Itzá than the much-photographed central area, where the biggest groups of tourists gather round their guides in the shade of the few trees that dot the perimeter.

The Platform of the Skulls
The Platform of the Skulls
The Sacred Cenote
The Sacred Cenote
The Group of the Thousand Columns
The Group of the Thousand Columns
El Caracol
El Caracol

Wandering Around

The Nunnery
The Nunnery

Chichén Itzá is packed with history and archaeological detail, absolutely everywhere you look. El Castillo, for example, is not only an impressive building that hides within its shell an even older pyramid dating from 800 AD; but the building's design also represents the Mayan calendar, with four stairways of 91 steps each, plus the platform at the top giving 365, the number of days in a year... and each face of the pyramid has 52 flat panels, which correspond to the 52 years in the Mayan calendar... and each of the nine levels is divided in two by the staircase, giving 18 separate terraces that correspond to the 18 months of the Mayan year (each of them 20 days long). Oh, and at the equinoxes, the sunlight shines through the steps to show an illusion of a moving serpent on the staircase. It's fascinating stuff.

A relief near the High Priest's Grave is depicting
Go on, you tell me what this relief near the High Priest's Grave is depicting