The Chichen Itza Pyramid
Or The Temple of Kukulcán

When Spaniards arrived at the Chichen Itza Pyramid they called it El Castillo or The Castle. This pyramid was the place of worship of the plumed serpent Quetzalcoatl. This serpent was the same god the Toltecs introduced under the name Kukulcán when the Itzáes invaded the ancient city in the 10th century.

The Maya built this pyramid over an earlier structure, the Temple of Kukulcan, which inside has the Jaguar Throne of this god adorned with jade stones and painted in red.

El Castillo has a strong relationship to one of the mayor practices of this ancient civilization, astronomy.

El Castillo like many call it is strongly related to the yearly calendar, which the Maya mastered. Each side of the pyramid had 91 steps and with the platform at the top there are 365 steps, one for each day of the year.

The new pyramid has nine terraces on each side of the stairways, 18 on each face, which represent the months in the Mayan solar calendar the Haab.

The head of Kukulcán at the base of the pyramid

An amazing show you should see is when Kukulcán, the feathered serpent appears when the Spring and Fall equinox happen.

At midday the shadow that covers the northeast angle of the pyramid reflects on the stairway and shows a series of triangles that form a snake which ends at the sculpted heads of Kukulcán at the bottom of the pyramid.

When the Chichen Itza pyramid was open for climbing, tourists were able to see a great view of the site and some carvings in the temple on top. Today climbing is prohibited.

Enjoying typical Mexican instruments at El Castillo

Traveling with our son to see El Castillo was a great experience, even though the terrain was tough for the stroller, the day was hot, and on top of that we carried some food and water for him (water is expensive inside.)

I know he remembers the ruins and specially "the pyramid" since he recognizes it when he sees it. He still asks me from time to time: "Mami, when are we going back to see the Mexican ruins?" and that for me is priceless.