Chichén Itzá

Introducing Chichén Itzá

The most famous and best restored of the Yucatán Maya sites, Chichén Itzá (Mouth of the Well of the Itzáes; admission M$95, parking M$10, sound-&-light show M$30, guide M$500-600; 8am-5:30pm winter, to 6pm summer) while tremendously overcrowded – every gawker and their grandmother is trying to check off the new seven wonders of the world – will still impress even the most jaded visitor. Many mysteries of the Maya astronomical calendar are made clear when one understands the design of the ‘time temples’ here. Other than a few minor passageways, climbing on the structures is not allowed.

At the vernal and autumnal equinoxes (March 20–21 and September 21–22), the morning and afternoon sun produces a light-and-shadow illusion of the serpent ascending or descending the side of El Castillo’s staircase. Chichén is mobbed on these dates, however, making it difficult to get close enough to see. The illusion is almost as good in the week preceding and following each equinox, and is re-created nightly in the sound-and-light show year-round.

Last updated: Sep 23, 2008