The Mayan civilization existed from 2600 B.C. to 1800 B.C. and was considered one of the dominant indigenous civilizations in mesoamerica. Within that timespan mayans were able to make monumental advances in technology and culture such as the mayan calendar, hieroglyphics, 0-20 number system, and astronomy. The Mayans created large cities such as Tikal, Palenque, and Chichen-Itza. Chichen-Itza was created as a result of the blending of the Toltec and Mayan culture. At the peak of the Mayan empire they grew crops such as corn, created reservoirs, and created a well-ordered social class system. Out of all the city-states established by the Mayans, Chichen-Itza stood out because of its size, art, and architecture.
Chichen-Itza is Mayan for “at the mouth of the well”. Chichen-Itza was once a thriving city in the mayan civilization but has now become an endangered monument. Chichen-Itza is located on the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico and was created in 455 A.D. by the Mayan civilization. In Chichen-Itza, resides the pyramid called “El Castillo” which was created as a temple for Kukulkan. The city was very specific in regards to the location of the temples. Today, Chichen-Itza is considered one of the seven new wonders of the world because of it’s impressive architecture. In 1988, UNESCO announced that Chichen-Itza was endangered because of its decaying state. Chichen-Itza was once open for tourists to climb the steps up the pyramid but now tourists can not go up the steps of the pyramid. With Chichen-Itza being thousand of years old, it is understandable why the city would be crumbling. The historical Chichen-Itza represents how advanced the Mayan civilization was to create such a complex city.
Chichen-Itza was one of the many cities that was created by the Mayan civilization.
This city was considered one of the largest cities created by the Mayans. The civilization had a capital building and temples dedicated to people. The Mayans not only included temples but also had recreational facilities to play sports. Steam baths were also included in Chichen-Itza with the purpose of having people relax. Including one of the most famous pyramids in Chichen-Itza, “El Castillo” which was a temple dedicated to Kukulkan, their god. Chichen-Itza was at its peak in 600 A.D. and was at one point considered the capital of the Yucatan Peninsula. Seven of the buildings in Chichen-Itza still remain today.
The Mayans adapted Chichen-Itza’s architecture style to Puuc (common to mesoamerica) which involves having “facings of thin squares of limestone veneer over a cement-and-rubble core; boot-shaped vault stones; decorated cornices around columns in doorways; engaged or half-columns repeated in long rows; and lavish use of stone mosaics in upper facades, emphasizing sky-serpent faces with long, hook-shaped noses, as well as frets and lattice-like designs of crisscrossed elements” (britannica). The seven buildings to still stand today in Chichen-itza: El Caracol, El Castillo, the ball court, the steam bath, nun house, El Mercado and the Temple of Warriors. The ball court at Chichen-Itza was known to be one of the largest ball courts in The Americas. The temple called El Castillo has 365 steps to represent the 365 days of the year. The temple made in the honor of Kukulkan reflected the mayans expertise of astronomy by having the shadow of a serpent precisely located on the steps of the temple. This shadow appears exactly at sunset and appears on the steps of the temple. El Caracol was an observatory that was shaped how a modern observatory would be shaped. El Caracol is known as one of the oldest observatories in the world. The steam baths were known to be a place where people would socialize and relax. The nun house was a nunnery where the nuns lived as a community. The Temple of Warriors was a temple that was built over the temple of Chacmool. This temple had several similarities to the Toltecs Pyramid B. Next to the Temple of the Warriors, resides a temple known as the Mercado. At the Mercado, merchants would meet up and sell their goods.
Chichen-Itza began to decline for several reasons, one of them being the spanish conquest of mesoamerica. Before the Spanish decided to invade, Chichen-Itza was having a problem of overpopulation. The excess of population caused there to be more demand in resources which they could not provide. In the 1600s, Spain sent explorer Hernan Cortes to search for more territory that Spain can conquer. In his conquest, he stumbled upon the Yucatan Peninsula where he invaded the city of Chichen-Itza among other mayan city-states. The spanish carried different diseases from europe which caused an epidemic among the indigenous population. It wiped out more than half of the indigenous population. After the epidemic, Chichen-Itza faced other problems: the infertile soil and drought. At one point, Chichen-Itza had fertile soil which caused the city to grow a surplus of crops such as maize (corn). However, after excessive use of the fertile soil, the soil became very dry which caused there to be less crops harvested every year. The infertile soil was not the only problem that caused them to harvest less crops, the drought was also to blame. The drought made the mayans cut down on much maize they would harvest and also let the mayans with less food resources. Eventually the once thriving mayan civilization became extinct around 1531. The historical site of Chichen-Itza brought to the world serval cultural and technological advancements that have helped shape our world today.
The ruins of Chichen-Itza are endangered and must be preserved because of its history. In 2015, UNESCO announced that the existing buildings are at risk of collapsing. There are cenotes surrounding the main temple of Chichen-Itza El Castillo, which made an archeologist discover an underground river that runs through El Castillo. The underground river has raised concern on whether or not the structure is stable which cause UNESCO to close the temple so people would not be able to climb up the 365 steps of El Castillo. Some safety precautions that should be taken in order to preserve the temple would be to limit the amount of people going to Chichen-itza. The island of Alcatraz can be seen as an example of what could be done to protect the city Chichen-Itza. Alcatraz limits the amount of people who enter the island with the purpose of being able to control where the tourists go. It can also prevent the entrance of unwanted visitors.
Chichen-Itza was one of the most monumental cities in mesoamerica from the Mayan civilization. UNESCO has declared this site as endangered due to an underground river that pass through El Castillo. Many efforts have been made to protect the ruins of this once thriving city such as closing off the temples to the public. Chichen-Itza was an advanced city-state of the Mayans that had extensive knowledge of astronomy, mathematics and engineering. The city of Chichen-Itza being one the most historic places in the time of mesoamerica should be kept away from permanent closure and it should be considered that Chichen-Itza just like other endangered historic places in Mexico is the closest history we have of some of our ancestors.