#maya architecture

[mostly-history]

Temple of the Frescoes (Tulum, Mexico).

In the back room of the ground floor are the remains of a mural painting on stucco, which is how this temple got its name.  It is a small, two-storeyed building, with two rooms on the ground floor and four monolithic columns forming the entrance gaps.  Three niches in the moulding portray the descending god in the centre, and two standing figures on each side.  In the corners of the frieze are large stuccoed masks that may represent Itzamná, the Maya creator deity.

[mostly-history]

Temple of the Warriors (Chichén Itzá).  The rows of columns leading up to the temple's stairway entrance are a Toltec influence.

[mostly-history]

Photos of Chichén Itzá (1932):

Platform of Eagles and Jaguars (detail).

Temple of the Warriors (serpent bird panel).

Temple of the Three Lintels (Mask of Itzamma).

A cenote (sacrificial well).

Steps of El Castillo.

El Castillo from the Temple of the Warriors.

Temple of the Warriors from El Castillo.

Tzompantli (skull platform).

[mostly-history]

El Castillo (Chichén Itzá, Mexico).

At the base of each staircase is a pair of feathered serpent heads, with their bodies stretching up behind them to form balustrades, and each holding a rattle high at the top.

[mostly-history]

God of the Winds Temple at Tulum (Mexico), on the east coast of the Caribbean Sea.

[mostly-history]

Temple of the Frescoes (Tulum, Mexico).

This is the best-preserved temple in Tulum, and is named for the coloured murals on one of its inner walls.  The outer temple is decorated with stucco figures in bas-relief, and carved masks of Chaac, the Maya rain god.

[mostly-history]

God of the Winds Temple (Tulum, Mexico).

This temple was built on top of a circular platform, a feature not often found in the area.  The temple itself is rectangular and has one door.  On the upper part of its façade are two mouldings, decorated with small stucco statues.  There is a stone walkway leading to the temple.

[mostly-history]

El Caracol (Chichén Itzá, Mexico).

Four entrances lead to a narrow passageway that coils upwards to a chamber with three surviving windows.  El Caracol, named for its snail-like shape, was used as an observatory by the Maya.

According to Spanish chroniclers, El Caracol's round shape symbolized Kukulkan, who was associated with the planet Venus.  Venus appears on the western horizon and disappears on the eastern horizon, with 584 days in between.  Five Venus cycles add up to eight solar years, and thus Venus appears at the northerly and southerly extremes of El Caracol at eight-year intervals.