Tuesday 10 August 2010

El Castillo


or the Pyramid of Kukulkán
Chichén Itzá (Yucatán), Mexico


Other than serving as a temple to the above mentioned god, this pyramide is, in fact, the Maya calender made stone: each starircase has 91 steps, which added to the single step at the main entrance amounts to 365. Other numbers relevant to the Maya calender recur throughout the construction (between the 9th and 12th centuries AD). Most remarkably, at sunset on the spring and autumn equinoxes, the great serpents' heads at the foot of the main staircase are joined to their tales (at the top) by an undulating body of shadow - an event of just a few hours that draws spectators, and awed worshippers, by the thousand.

19 comments:

Tinsie said...

El Castillo = the castle? What was the pyramid for?

Unknown said...

Tinsie, the pyramide served as a temple to the god Kukulkán BUT it is, in fact, the Maya calender made stone: each starircase has 91 steps, which added to the single step at the main entrance amounts to 365. Other numbers relevant to the Maya calender recur throughout the construction. Most remarkably, at sunset on the spring and autumn equinoxes, the great serpents' heads at the foot of the main staircase are joined to their tales (at the top) by an undulating body of shadow -an event of just a few hours that draws spectators, and awed worshippers, by the thousand.
I will add this information to the message now as I think more people might be interested.

Indrani said...

A pyramid in Mexico?! This is new to me.

Joop Zand said...

I like this pictures.....well done.

greetings, Joop

Elettra said...

Great beautiful photos with descriptive notes very instructive

Costea Andrea Mihai said...

have you traveled around the world!! impressive! :)

Lowell said...

I think this is perhaps the most famous of the pyramids, right? Did you climb to the top? The people who built this may have been superstitious and ignorant about many things, but they certainly weren't stupid!

Pooch Purple Reign said...

ah, sweet. i have been wanting to get here for some time. isnt this part of what the dec 21 2012 thing is about? the mayan end of times prophecy?
great photos
~laura

Rajesh said...

Great looking pyramids. Great place for temple to be located at the top.

SAPhotographs (Joan) said...

I always wanted to live in a castle but think I prefer one in Spain. :)

Wonderful info in your comments Jose.

Dave-CostaRicaDailyPhoto.com said...

And the Chichen Itza complex includes so much more than El Castillo. It is like a small city, with other structures.

tapirgal said...

Very cool. I loved the ruins at Caracol, Belize, but they are the only ones I've seen. Did you go there? Thanks for the correction on the rose. I've fixed the page :)

Héctor Torres said...

Great photos I've found here......I have a post in my blog called "El Castillo" too and I show a photo of the Kukulcán pyramid at night..
Come visit my blog and let me know what you think..

Regards from México,

http://hectortorresphoto.blogspot.com/

I'm following you...

Photo Cache said...

I was just here in June and I was astounded. It's an amazing place.

You captured it so well.

Tinsie said...

WOW. Very interesting indeed! I knew that Chichén Itzá was special, but I didn't know the detail. Thank you for sharing :-)

Bhushavali said...

The Mayan Civilization!!! Its a fav. subj. for me!!!

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Cezar and Léia said...

Wow JM que lugar incrível e vc nos proporcionou tantas informaçoes.Eu acho que deve ter uma energia diferente num lugar assim!Quanta historia!
Léia

Serline said...

One of the place my hubby vowed to visit once in his lifetime. Still on his list ;-)

Regina said...

Fantastic!
Thank you for sharing.