Yucatan - December 2007
Chichen Itza

After visiting the relaxing island of Cozumel and snorkeling and receiving massages to our heart’s content, Adele and I and Luna traveled to the ancient Mayan city of Chichen Itza.  Along the way our friend and guide Enrique and our driver William picked us up at the ferry at Playa del Carmen and took us to Chichen Itza.


Chichen Itza was originally a pure Mayan city.  The Mayans abandoned the city sometime during the 9th Century AD.  The Itzaes, a different group of Mayas settled in the city during the late 10th Century AD.  The Toltecs then invaded Chichen Itza at some point.  So the city has different architectural styles: the Puuc style (Red House, Temple of  the Deer, and the Nunnery Complex) from the Uxmal/western Yucatan area; the Itza style (not sure where that is), and the Toltec style (Pyramid of Kukulcan, Temple of the Warriors, the Great Ball Court, and the Ossuary/Pyramid of the High Priest, and “Old” Chichen Itza which is currently not open to the public) for which Chichen Itza is most well known.


Chichen Itza was abandoned around 1200A.D.


For further photos and information on Chichen Itza, please visit the following links:


http://www90.homepage.villanova.edu/lowell.gustafson/Maya/itza.html

http://www.dallas.net/~lalo/chichen.html

http://jqjacobs.net/mesoamerica/chichen.html

http://www.smm.org/sln/ma/chichen.html

The north side of the Pyramid of Kukulcan in the Principal Plaza at Chichen Itza
Map of Chichen ItzaYUCATAN-CHICHENITZA-Map-2007.htmlshapeimage_4_link_0