Chichen Itza and the Pyramid of Kukulkan
The village of Pisto, as employees of the bus station in Merida assured us, is a 5-minute drive from the archaeological site of Chichen Itza. We were traveling in a bus together with three Italians from Bologna, whom we met back in Palenque. Here you can feel the international brotherhood of travelers from different countries of the world. We helped them to exchange money somewhere, they suggested a good Pyramid hotel in Pisto to us.
We traveled in a second-class bus, which constantly meandered through settlements. Here we saw impoverished Mexico. Dwellings in these villages resemble sheds: walls made of wooden poles, roofs made of palm branches, fences - masonry of stones without mortar.
The bus station in Pisto also resembles a shed, which has a table and a staff member who tells you the timetable and sells tickets. By taxi for 20 pesos, together with the Italians, we reached the Pyramid Hotel. Although, as it turned out later, they could walk for 10 minutes. The 2-storey hotel has a large cozy courtyard with trees, flowers and a swimming pool. The rooms have everything you need. The cost of living is 500 pesos ($50).
Mexico is located near the equator. During the day, the sun in May is almost at its zenith, and the night comes quickly and very early. We were going to see the laser show in Chechen Itza, which takes place every evening in the summer at 20:00. But they got carried away by the pool, lost their orientation in time and simply missed it.
The next morning we took a bus in 5 minutes to reach the archaeological zone. The cost of tickets to the archaeological zone is the largest here - 135 pesos. Perhaps this is due to the fact that the main flow of visitors is Americans vacationing in the Cancun resort. Apparently, they ensured the popularity of this ancient settlement of May, the central pyramid of which Kukulkan is included in the Seven Modern Wonders of the World. It was this circumstance that was decisive for us in choosing the country and the route of the next trip.
Chichen Itza was probably founded in the 7th century AD. The remains of the city can be conditionally divided into two groups. The first includes buildings dating back to the 6th-7th centuries. n. e. and related to the period of the Mayan culture. The second group of buildings belongs to the Toltec period of the 10th-11th centuries. n. e. In the middle of the 11th century, Chichen Itza became the capital of the Toltec state. In the 12th century, it was defeated by the united army of three city-states. By the time of the Spanish conquests, Chichen Itza was a ruin. Unfortunately, the policy of the Spanish conquerors who invaded Mexico included the burning of manuscripts and the murder of Mayan priests. Thus, much of its mysterious history has been lost.
The Pyramid of Kukulkan in Chichen Itza is included in the Seven Modern Wonders of the World. This pyramid, 24 meters high, has nine tiers and a temple on the upper platform, clearly defined stairs leading up, two of which are decorated with dragons at the bottom. From other pyramids in Mexico, the Chichen Itza pyramid stands out for its slenderness of lines, the perfection of proportions and the symbolism of quantitative characteristics.
On the days of the spring and autumn equinoxes (March 20 and September 21), at approximately three in the afternoon, visitors can watch an amazing spectacle. The rays of the sun illuminate the western balustrade of the main staircase of the pyramid in such a way that light and shadow form an image of seven isosceles triangles, which, in turn, make up the body of a thirty-meter snake, “creeping” as the sun moves towards its own head, carved at the base of the stairs.
Our further journey lay in Cancun, where we ended our trip to Mexico. When the route was being developed at home, I thought why there were so many pyramids, I would get tired of the same thing. But each ancient city is interesting in its own way. If we were asked: what pyramids or settlements could be excluded. The answer is unequivocal - none.
