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<\/a>Jaguar throne.<\/p><\/div>\n
Before we visited Chichen Itza we went did as the Mayans would do and went to a cenote to purify ourselves. Actually, we just wanted to swim in a cool swimming pool. A cenote is a giant water hole. In addition to killing the dinosaurs, the impact of a great meteor had a very strange effect on the land. It liquefied the land and then when it reassembled itself it became very porous. So much so that all the water in the Yucatan peninsula sinks. There are hardly any above ground rivers in the Yucatan, they are mostly underground and occasionally they pool up in underground holes. There are over 250 known cenotes in Yucatan. Since the water goes through the ground it gets purified naturally and is crystal blue. After our swim we had a nice buffet lunch of traditional Yucatan food.<\/p>\n
<\/a>Entrance to the Xcajum Cenote complex<\/p><\/div>\n
<\/a>Xcajum is Mayan for “the place of the sounds.”<\/p><\/div>\n
<\/a>Looking down at the cenote.<\/p><\/div>\n
<\/a>Mexican buffet food. Lots of pastas.<\/p><\/div>\n
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The ancient Mayan site of Chichen Itza rose to prominence is about 600 AD with it’s hey day being in about 900 AD. It was a major city in the area until about 1200 AD when there is evidence that a neighboring city of Mayopan raided the city. For unknown reasons the site was completely abandoned (other than ceremonial visits) by 1300 AD. When the Spaniards came in the 16th century they tried to conquer the inhabitants but they were very hostile and so they mostly just let them be.<\/p>\n
In 1894 an American Consul named, Edward Herbert Thompson, purchased the land of Chichen Itza. He knew there was ruins in the area and he had heard of gold artifacts being discovered in local cenotes (water holes). He discovered the\u00a0 Osario (High Priest’s Temple) and the Cenote Sagrado (Sacred Water Hole) and found lots of artifacts. In 1926 the Mexican government seized Thompson’s land and charged him with smuggling so he fled the country (back then the Mexican government had a thing for instant executions). In 1944 the Mexican Supreme Court ruled that Thompson had broken no laws and the land was given back to his heirs.<\/p>\n
<\/a>An old postal of the observatory.<\/p><\/div>\n
<\/a>Arriving at Chichen Itza.<\/p><\/div>\n
<\/a>The Observatory today, not much has changed.<\/p><\/div>\n
<\/a>Jaguar throne.<\/p><\/div>\n
<\/a>The parking lot for Chichen Itza is huge.<\/p><\/div>\n
<\/a>A painting from 1890s shows what Chichen Itza looked like.<\/p><\/div>\n
<\/a>Denise in front of the ball court judges booth.<\/p><\/div>\n