Chiapas - 2005
Yaxchilan
The Grand Plaza
Edifice VI
Edifice VI in the Grand Plaza in Yaxchilan

I do not recall Edifice VI (Roman numeral “6”).  I am not sure if we even went into this temple.  Having read more about this temple, I would like to visit it again and spend more time in it.


According to YAXCHILAN: The Design Of A Ceremonial City by Carolyn E. Tate, Copyright 1992, ISBN 0-292-77041-3, Pages 155-157, the Mayans designed Edifice VI to service both the Grand Plaza and the river areas.  A shallow room with 3 wide doorways spanned with wooden lintels opens onto the Usumacinta River.  Sometime after the Mayans constructed Edifices VI (“6”), VII (“7”), and VIII (“8”), they raised the level of the Grand Plaza about 0.60 meters (about 1.95 feet).  The Mayans decorated all 4 facades of Edifice VI (“6”) with a frieze including high relief stone and stucco mask panels.