Chichen Itza

 Our guide, Helaman, took us to Chichen Itza. It means; at the mouth of the well of Itza. His tour began in the van, on the way he told us many things about the Mayan people, myths, words, and some of their history.

 This is the biggest temple in Mexico, it is called the Castillo or castle. There are 365 steps and on the solstices, September and March,  they say you can see the feathered serpents on the stairs light up with the sun. Helaman said the day you see all of the serpents backs is April 6th. Pretty cool!

 The biggest ball court, probably like our super bowl, it was a biggie. 7 each on a team and the captain of the winning team gets beheaded and they feel it is an honor. This is inside the inner wall so it would be like dying in the temple.

 The observatory has 6 windows and the sun goes through them at the solstic times also.

 The side of the observatory, the section in front is the priest's house, it has 3 rooms like the temples did. Outer courtyard, inner courtyard, and Holy of Holies.

Temple of a thousand Warriors, you can see Chac Mool on top in the center.

They had human sacrifices where they took the heart out and placed it on the plate that is on the reclining God's hands. Representing giving a broken heart to the Lord. They had the idea, just the wrong approach.

 This could have been a baptismal font. It has 3 steps down and a round shallow well.

Part of  Las Monjas, the nunnery; this is one of the buildings, the church or Iglesia. On the top right corner you can see the nose of the Rain God that kind of looks like an elephant. They built them that way because the rain comes down and makes things grow up. It was also a sign of fertility. On the building behind us were a total of 13 faces of Cha'ak, the rain god,carved into the stone.

LeavingChichen Itza we took one more picture of the Castillo. Loved this tour!