Chichén Itzá

Chichén Itzá is rightly considered a wonder of the modern world. The central pyramid is huge and stately and gob-smackingly amazing, but the entire complex is beautiful and interesting.

Chichén Itzá was the centre of an extensive empire for a long time and the grandeur of the complex shows that clearly. Even though it was declining by the time the Spanish made their way here it fought them off twice. It was only when the Spanish did a deal with other local cities and they attacked together that Chichén Itzá fell.

The central pyramid is emblematic and enormous. There is a form follows function thing which makes pyramids a logical way to build big things (on which subject kudos to the Romans who built the much larger Pantheon both earlier and with more engineering), but pyramids also have a weight to them which makes them just impressive. As with the Egyptians, the Mayans aligned the building to work with the equinoxes and seasons. Pretty much everything they did was aligned with their complex but perfect calendar and the Chichén Itzá group of buildings includes an observatory used to track the Sun and Venus.

The complex also has palaces, ball courts, and a couple of cenotes. There’s a lot to take in, especially as some of the relief carvings also remain. In its heyday all of the buildings were painted bright colour and some of them have faint traces of red remaining.

The ball courts are interesting. A flat area bounded by sloped walls with a hoop halfway along each side. Even though there are some relief carvings of games, no one actually knows what was played or how in any detail. The writings describing the games were destroyed by the Spaniards and the one book a Spanish priest translated is view with deep skepticism as he was clearly pushing a view of Mayan savagery that doesn’t gibe with other facts.

I got to Chichén Itzá at 7:30am thanks to the forward planning of staying just round the corner. I was the fourth car to park and tenth person in line for a ticket, but by the time I got in just after 8:00am there were already substantial numbers of people ahead of me thanks to guides getting fast-track entry. There was also a flood of locals, hundreds of them, dragging in wood, rope and trestles to set up stalls. By the time I left at 11 the paths were like main streets – both sides were lined with stalls selling all manner of Mayan-themed stuff and the paths themselves were heaving with people. Three hours of walking in the increasing heat, almost 40-degrees, and then navigating the crowds left me quite drained.

Chichén is one of the two most visited sites in Mexico. Sundays are especially busy because Mexicans get in for free – something I applaud in principal. Even on a normal day there is a tiered pricing system which sees foreign tourists paying substantially more than locals. I can only say if you ever go, go early because you do not want to be there at midday with full Sun and full crowds. But do go, it’s an extraordinary view of Mayan society.