Chichén Itzá - El Castillo

The structure known as El Castillo, also called the Pyramid of Kukulkán, dominates this part of the site. As is the case with most pre-Columbian buildings, it is positioned in accordance with strict astronomical-astrological rules.

The 30 m (98 ft)-high, four-sided pyramid, excellently restored, impresses with its classic simplicity. The nine-tiered terracing and four stairways, one on each side, symbolise the nine heavens and four points of the compass. Each stairway has 91 steps, a total of 364, the platform at the top being the 365th, the whole corresponding therefore to the number of days in a year. Large serpent heads adorn the feet of the stairways which rise steeply, at an angle of 45°, to the upper platform on which the actual Temple of Kukulkán stands. The climb to the top of the steps is rewarded with a superb view over the entire site. A pair of typical Toltec serpent columns flank the temple's main entrance. During the restoration of El Castillo workers discovered a pure Mayan-style temple hidden away inside, crowning an older pyramid over which the later one lies superimposed. At its entrance were a stone chac-mool and a throne in the shape of a red-painted stone jaguar, its coat inlaid with jade. A passage leading into the interior of the pyramid now gives access to these hidden rooms. Open 10 a.m. - 4 p.m. At the equinoxes (March 21st and September 21st/22nd) the Kukulkán Pyramid becomes the scene of a spectacular shadow show. On these two afternoons the setting sun, falling on the corners of El Castillo's nine terraces, casts an undulating shadow onto the west-facing wall of the north staircase. Running all the way down the edge as far as the great snake's head at the foot, the effect is of a huge serpent slithering earthwards from the top of the pyramid, a dramatic symbol of Kukulkán's descent heralding the sowing season or the ending of the rains.