Chichen Itza

The Maya serpent pyramid

Chichen Itza is a city of the Maya people, with the El Castillo pyramid at its centre. This pyramid is a giant calendar: 91 steps on each of 4 sides plus the top — 365 in all, the number of days in a year! In spring and autumn the Sun's shadow draws a 'snake' on the stairs that 'slithers' down. If you clap in front of the pyramid, the echo sounds like a bird singing!

Chichen Itza (600–1200) was a Maya-Toltec city in Yucatán and around AD 1000 the political centre of the region. El Castillo (Temple of Kukulcan, 30 m) is a 9-tier pyramid with 365 steps and 52 panels (the Maya calendar cycle), its sides facing the cardinal directions. At the equinoxes the shadow forms the body of the serpent god Kukulcan. A clap in front of the stairs echoes like the call of a quetzal bird (acoustic design). The Great Ball Court (168 m) is the largest in Mesoamerica, carrying a whisper 150 m. The Sacred Cenote (well) yielded sacrifices and gold. The 'El Caracol' observatory tracked the cycle of Venus. A UNESCO site (1988) and one of the New Seven Wonders.

Fun facts

• The pyramid has 365 steps — one for each day of the year.
• Clap in front of the stairs and the echo sounds like a bird's song.
• The Maya used the number zero 1,000 years before Europeans.