Tuesday, June 16, 2009

PYRAMID -- The Great Wonder from MEXICO


Chichén Itzá, the most well-known Mayan temple city, served as the political and economic center of the Mayan civilization. Its different structures - the Pyramid of Kukulkan, the Temple of Chac Mool, the Hall of the Thousand Pillars, and the Playing Field of the Prisoners – can still be seen today and are demonstrative of an extraordinary promise to architectural space and composition. The Pyramid itself was the last, and possibly the greatest, of all Mayan temples.

The site exhibits a multitude of architectural styles, from what is called “Mexicanized” and suggestive of styles seen in central Mexico to the Puuc style found among the Puuc Maya of the northern lowlands. The presence of central Mexican styles was once attention to have been representative of direct migration or even conquest from central Mexico, but most modern interpretations view the presence of these non-Maya styles more as the result of cultural diffusion.

The shell of Chichen Itza is federal property, and the site’s stewardship is maintained by Mexico’s Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia . The land under the monuments, is privately-owned by the Barbachano family.

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