El Caracol, or the Observatory, Chichen Itza (Mexico)

El Caracol, or the Observatory, is a remarkable structure of the pre-Columbian era that nestles at the very heart of the ancient Mayan city of Chichen Itza on the eastern Yucatán Peninsula, nowadays southeast Mexico.

Bird’s-eye view of El Caracol, facing northeast

Its name means ‘snail’ or ‘spiral-shaped’ in Spanish apparently due to the winding staircase that spirals up the interior of a cylindrical central tower, atop two nestled platforms on a trademark Mayan superimposed pattern.

The structure, almost 23m high, is estimated to date back to around 906 AD in the so-called Postclassic Mesoamerican age and is reckoned to have served as a space observatory, hence its other name, for the Mayas to track the movements of Venus in the night sky in particular.

Mayan astronomers, who doubled as priests, knew that Venus appeared on the western and disappeared on the eastern horizon on the far ends of a 225 day spell at different times round the year while five such cycles⁽¹⁾ amounted to eight solar years.

Sight lines of about 20 astronomical events of interest to Mayans, such as solstices, eclipses and equinoxes, can be found within the tower there has got to be said.

For that matter, the structure doesn’t look that different from modern observatories as it features that domed tower, comprising two concentric walls that enclose a pair of circular chambers in its lower level, in the middle with relatively small aligned windows on the side.

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(1) The so-called ‘Five Petals of Venus.’

Uxmal, Yucatán (Mexico), virtual tour

Chichén Itzá, Yucatán (Mexico), virtual tour

The Sarcophagus of Pacal the Great

This is the cover, or lid, of the large sarcophagus of Pakal (also Pacal the Great) that lies in his tomb in the Temple of the Inscriptions in the ancient city of Palenque, state of Chiapas in southernmost nowadays Mexico.

Pacal (Kʼinich Janaab Pakal in Mayan) was a great Mayan ruler (‘Ajaw’ or ‘Ahau’ in Mayan, meaning ‘Lord’) of the city-state that reigned for a long 68 years (615-683 AD) having ascended the throne at the mere age of 12.

As regards the Temple of Inscriptions, or Bʼolon Yej Teʼ Naah in Mayan that spells ‘House of the Nine Sharpened Spears,’ it shapes the largest Mesoamerican (eight-)stepped pyramid in Palenque and is situated at the namesake Court and at a right angle southwest to the Palace.

Some interpret Pacal’s lying stance on the cover of the sarcophagus, which measures about 3.6x2m (12x7ft), as a sign of rebirth into a deity according to the Mayan tradition underneath what is the Ceiba (or ya’axché), the tree of life as an axis mundi that connects the different planes of the world (universe).

Intriguing is also that the tree appears to have two sort of ‘niches’ in the middle occupied by what look like crystals. In various studies around, Ceiba is called a ‘shiny jewel tree’ but have got a sneaky feeling that the proper rendering could be ‘shiny crystal tree’ instead.

Incidentally, at the top of Ceiba appears Itzam-Yeh, the Serpent Bird of Heaven, that is associated with the four corners of the world as well as the Big Dipper asterism in the constellation of Ursa Major (Great Bear).

El Castillo, Chichen Itza (Mexico)

This is the north side of El Castillo (‘the Castle’ in Spanish), also known as Temple of Kukulcán or simply Kukulcán, which commands the center of the ancient Mayan city of Chichen Itza on the peninsula of Yucatán, westernmost Mexico.

It is a Mesoamerican step-pyramid that served as a temple to the serpent deity of Kukulcán, meaning ‘plumed/amazing/feathered serpent,’ and was built in phases between the 8th and 12th century AD.

Kukulcán is a deity of the Pre-Colombian Yucatec Maya, closely associated with Qʼuqʼumatz of the Kʼicheʼ people (modern Guatemala) and Quetzalcoatl of the Aztecs, that originates in the Maya of the Classic era (250 – 900 AD) known therein as Waxaklahun Ubah Kan, which translates as the ‘War Serpent.’

The pyramid comprises several square terraces on top of one another as staircases climb up each of its four sides to the top with sculptures of plumed serpents rolling down either side of the north balustrade.

Interestingly, there are roughly 91 steps on each side that along with the platform of the temple at the top add up to 365 overall that matches the number of days of the Haabʼ year, which is made up by eighteenth months of twenty days each.

Archaeological research suggests that Kukulcán was fashioned on the concept of Axis Mundi (also called Cosmic Axis or World Tree), which represents the connection between ‘higher and lower realms’ of the cosmos.

Axis Mundi is the Latin term for the axis of the Earth (rotation) between the Celestial Poles in astronomy.

The pyramid further stands right above a cenote (water cave) aligned at the intersection of a further four; the Sacred Cenote (North), the Xtoloc (South), the Kanjuyum (East) and the Holtún (West) that render Kukulcán as an axis mundi itself.

Over the spring and fall equinoxes, late afternoon, the sun strikes off the northwest corner of the pyramid to cast a series of triangular shadows on the north balustrade shaping an illusion of the feathered serpent crawling down the pyramid.

As a matter of fact, the temple seems to simulate the chirping of the Quetzal (bird) at the clapping of people around, which is probably not accidental, through the echoing effect of its shape and structure.

The Governor’s Palace, Uxmal (Mexico)

The Governor’s Palace is a long low building on a large terrace that is located just south of the Pyramid of the Magician in the central quarter of the ancient Mayan city of Uxmal in the Puuc region of the Yucatán Peninsula, easternmost nowadays Mexico.

The structure comprises three sections where the middle is elevated to about 20m and links to the other two lower flanking equivalents through vaulted corridors oriented towards the main pyramid of Cehtzuc southeast.

Furthermore, the decorations of the facade of the building contain nearly 400 glyphs of Venus in masks of rain god Chac while it features eight bicephalic serpents over the main entrance.

The Pyramid of the Magician, Uxmal (Mexico)

The commanding Pyramid of the Magician is a step Puuc-styled pyramid that shapes the central and tallest structure of the ancient Mayan city of Uxmal in the Puuc region of the Yucatán peninsula, easternmost nowadays Mexico.

Measuring roughly 40m high and 81m wide, it was built in phases over three centuries between the 6th and 9th century AD in the so-called Classic Period following the traditional Mayan pattern of superimposition, comprising no less than five nestled temples.

Temple V, known as the House of the Magician or Soothsayer, shapes the final piece that tops off the pyramid dating to the 9th century for that matter.

Legend has that sky god Itzamna raised the pyramid in a single night employing his might and magic but another that a dwarf of no mother completed the pyramid in as much time as part of three tasks assigned by the ruler of Uxmal in order to prove his worth and save his life.

The pyramid is located on the eastern side of the ancient city, overlooking the Nunnery Quadrangle on its west, so that the western stairway faces the setting sun at the summer solstice.

Uxmal, meaning ‘thrice built’ in Mayan, was among the largest cities of Yucatán Peninsula boasting a population of as many as around 25000 at its height and flourished between roughy 600 and 1000 AD, considered the pinnacle of late Mayan art and architecture.