The temple of Kukulcan, the central temple structure, built around 670, took 200 years to design and over 13 or so to build.  Chitzen Itza, or the sorcerers of water, was central to Mayan culture which began around AD 600 thriving from a long period of heavy rain that enabled a population boom.  It is the Mayan capital and the central religious “cathedral” for their people built in honor of the water god, Chaac.

The seventh wonder of the world is named as such because of its mathematical exactness and ability to predict the seasons which created a steadfast belief in the leadership of the Mayan empire.  Notice the 91 steps on each side of the wonder?  Multiply by 4 and add the top Tier to represent the 365 days in a year and now we know that the Mayan understanding of Astrology was way ahead of its time. All culminating in an incredible display of light and shadow during the solar equinox, as the angle seen above appears to show a slithering snake descending from the top of the pyramid. Additionally acoustics onsite are amazing.  The surrounding walls of the city are high and thick making for an exponentially loud echo from the top of the structure throughout a 1 square kilometer range at the base getting louder as the sound travels so that all could hear the speakers wisdom from their Water God.

 

A closer look inside Chitzen Itza shows that the site actually has some empty space and an inner temple interior that had been undiscovered until 2012 when scientists curiously compared the structure to Egyptian pyramids wondering if anything was inside of it.  Data collected from NASA found that the sight should weigh approximately 50 tons but incredibly only weighs in at 100 tons!  In 2015 a massive foundation was found underneath the entire sight! It is made from a harder rock found 50 km away from the site and has supported the 100 metric ton wonder for all this time.

During the hot season Mayans would collect at the base of its temple and listen to the leaders predict that the next day would bring rain and a cooler season. Using tree bark scrolls they recorded weather patterns taking advantage of the solar eclipses to reinforce the belief that their Rain God had been appeased and would directly converse with the leaders. Chitzen Itza is built directly over a cenote and is said to be a wishing well of sorts for offering made to the water God.

Opposite the site lays the historic football sight of the Maya.  Its incredible, the scale and the design is impressive in and of itself let alone what took place in this arena thousands of years ago.  Teams of 7 picked from the finest of all the kingdoms athletes competed in this arena in championship matches ending with the ultimate sacrifice of the winning team!