Landmark North America
Chichén Itzá
Chichén Itzá is an old Maya city in Mexico. Its big stone pyramid has steps on all four sides. People built it long, long ago.
Chichén Itzá is the ruin of a great Maya city on the Yucatán Peninsula in Mexico. Its people built pyramids, a huge ball court and a round building for watching the sky. Its most famous pyramid, El Castillo, has 365 steps, as many as the days in a year.
Founded around the 6th century CE beside two natural wells (cenotes), Chichén Itzá peaked in the Early Postclassic (900 to 1200 CE), when a style blending Maya and central Mexican (Toltec) traditions produced El Castillo, the Great Ball Court and the Temple of the Warriors. INAH counted close to 2.5 million visitors in 2023.
Photo: Daniel Schwen, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Discover Chichén Itzá
Chichén Itzá is in Mexico, a country in North America.
Long ago, Maya people lived in a big city here. They built pyramids, temples and a court for a ball game. Today, the stone buildings still stand in the green land.
Chichén Itzá is in the state of Yucatán, in southeastern Mexico, about 115 kilometers by road from the city of Mérida. It is the ruin of a Maya city that covered about 10 square kilometers. At its peak, Britannica says, it may have been home to 35,000 people.
The name means "at the edge of the well of the Itzá." In this dry region, the only water comes from cenotes, natural holes in the rock that reach water underground. In 2023, close to 2.5 million people visited; INAH says no other archaeological site in Mexico had more visitors that year.
The ruins cover about 10 km² in south-central Yucatán state. Britannica describes the city as a religious, military, political and commercial center that may have held 35,000 people at its peak. The only water in this arid region comes from cenotes, sinkholes in the limestone; two large ones on the site gave the city its name, which INAH translates as "the city at the edge of the well of the Itzá."
INAH, Mexico's National Institute of Anthropology and History, places its main period in the Early Postclassic (900 to 1200 CE) and calls it the best example of the migrations of that time, since it combines material culture of the Maya area and of central Mexico, particularly Toltec. UNESCO, which inscribed it in 1988, counts its monuments, particularly those of the northern group, "among the undisputed masterpieces of Mesoamerican architecture." INAH's director reported close to 2.5 million visitors in 2023, making it the most visited archaeological site in Mexico that year.
- Where
- Yucatán, Mexico, 115 km by road from Mérida
- Main period
- Early Postclassic, 900 to 1200 CE
- World Heritage Site
- 1988
- Visitors (2023)
- close to 2.5 million
A city that changed over time
Maya people started the city long, long ago, next to big water holes.
Later, new people came and built more. The city grew big and busy. After many years, people moved away, and trees grew over the stones.
The city was founded around the 6th century CE by Maya people of the Yucatán Peninsula. They chose a place beside two large cenotes, which gave them water. Its first big buildings, such as the Nunnery, are in a Maya style called Puuc.
In the 10th century, newcomers influenced by the Toltec people of central Mexico arrived, and a new style mixing Maya and Toltec ideas began. From 987 to 1200, INAH says, Chichén Itzá was the capital of a wide area of the peninsula. Later the city of Mayapán grew more powerful. After about 1440 Chichén Itzá declined quickly, and by the time the Spanish arrived in the 1500s it was largely abandoned. Excavation began in the 19th century.
UNESCO notes that later local accounts date the first settlement to 415 to 435 or to 455 CE; Britannica gives settlers from about 550, and INAH's chronology runs from 525 to 1200. UNESCO dates the Puuc-style buildings of the old town (among them the Nunnery, the Church, Akab Dzib and Chichanchob) to between the 6th and 10th centuries. Britannica also counts El Caracol among the earliest structures south of the Main Plaza, while UNESCO gives it as an example of the later blended style.
In the 10th century, after the southern lowland cities collapsed, Britannica says Chichén was taken over by foreigners, probably Maya speakers strongly influenced by the Toltec of central Mexico; whether the Itzá arrived then or 200 to 300 years later is debated. INAH describes Chichén as capital of a broad territory from 987 to 1200. No major monuments seem to have been built after the 13th century, and UNESCO dates the city's rapid decline to after about 1440; Britannica says the League of Mayapán, a confederacy that for a time included Chichén, Uxmal and Mayapán, dissolved about 1450. UNESCO dates the first excavations to 1841.
How it was built
The Maya cut big blocks of limestone rock.
They shaped the stones with tools made of even harder stone. They piled up platforms, one on top of another, to make the pyramid. A small stone building sits at the top.
The Maya built with limestone, the rock of this region. Britannica says they quarried huge amounts of it and cut it with tools of harder stone, such as chert.
El Castillo was built in layers: nine platforms stacked like giant steps, with a stairway up each of its four sides and a small building on top. Inside it, archaeologists found an older pyramid hidden beneath. UNESCO praises the excellent materials and building methods the Maya used, which have helped the buildings last for centuries.
The Maya quarried immense quantities of limestone and cut it with harder stones such as chert (Britannica); UNESCO credits the excellent materials and building techniques of the Maya with preserving the site's architecture, sculpture and painting through centuries of abandonment.
El Castillo is a nine-platform pyramid rising 79 ft (24 m) above the Main Plaza, with a stairway of 91 steps on each of its four sides, each facing a cardinal direction; with the step of the top platform they total 365. Excavations inside revealed an earlier pyramid, the Substructure, containing a red-painted jaguar throne inlaid with jade and shell. INAH notes that the precise orientation and slope of the pyramid's faces show the Maya's high level of astronomical and architectural knowledge.
Pyramid, ball court and observatory
The big pyramid is called El Castillo, which means "the castle."
It has stairs on all four sides. Nearby is a huge court where people played a ball game. There is also a round building where people watched the stars.
El Castillo stands 24 meters above the city's Main Plaza. Each of its four stairways has 91 steps, and with the step at the top they add up to 365. At each spring and fall equinox, the sun makes triangles of light and shadow along the edge of a stairway, which INAH says shows how much the Maya knew about the sky.
The Great Ball Court, where a ball game was played, is 166 meters long and 68 meters wide. El Caracol, "the snail," is a round observatory named for its spiral staircase. Nearby stand the Temple of the Warriors and the Group of the Thousand Columns.
El Castillo dominates the northern group, ringed by terraces carrying the major complexes: the Great Ball Court, the Jaguar Temple and the House of Eagles to the northwest; the Temple of the Warriors, the Group of the Thousand Columns and the Market to the northeast; the Tomb of the High Priest to the southwest. INAH describes the equinox effect on El Castillo: as the sun moves, it lights the pyramid's western balustrade in triangles of light and shadow, a result of the faces' orientation and slope.
The ball court, for the game called tlachtli (Mayan: pok-ta-pok), measures 545 by 223 ft (166 by 68 m); Britannica (2026) calls it the largest such court in the Americas, and says that someone standing on the platform of the temple to the north of the court can hear a whisper from 150 ft (46 m) away. El Caracol, which UNESCO calls a circular stellar observatory, takes its name from its spiral staircase.
- Height of El Castillo
- 24 m above the Main Plaza
- Steps
- 91 on each side; 365 with the top step
- Great Ball Court
- 166 m long, 68 m wide
- Area
- about 10 km²
Chichén Itzá today
Today, many visitors come to see the old city.
A new museum shows things found there. Maya people still live in Mexico today, and many speak Maya languages.
Chichén Itzá is open to visitors every day of the year. In 2023, close to 2.5 million people came, which INAH says made it the most visited archaeological site in Mexico that year. In 2024 a new museum, the Great Maya Museum of Chichén Itzá, opened with more than 400 original objects.
The site is cared for by INAH, Mexico's national institute of anthropology and history. Maya people still live in southern Mexico, Guatemala and northern Belize; in the early 2000s, more than five million people spoke about 30 Mayan languages.
INAH is in charge of the care and conservation of the site, while a Yucatán state board runs its visitor services; the site is protected by Mexico's 1972 federal law on archaeological monuments and zones and was declared an archaeological monument by presidential decree in 1986. The Great Maya Museum of Chichén Itzá opened on February 29, 2024, with more than 400 original pieces in 2,800 m² of exhibition space, including a recreation of El Castillo's Substructure.
UNESCO notes pressures from heavy use, infrastructure for services, events unrelated to the site, fire and limestone erosion, and the lack of an emergency plan and long-term monitoring. Britannica records some 30 Mayan languages spoken by more than five million people in the early 21st century, in southern Mexico, Guatemala and northern Belize.
Amazing facts
-
The big pyramid has 365 steps, one for each day of the year.
El Castillo's four stairways have 91 steps each; with the top step, that makes 365, the number of days in a year.
Four stairways of 91 steps, plus the step of the top platform, total 365, the days of the solar year.
-
There is an older pyramid hidden inside the big one.
Inside El Castillo, archaeologists found an older pyramid with a red jaguar throne decorated with jade.
El Castillo's Substructure holds a jaguar throne painted red and inlaid with jade and shell.
-
At the ball court, a whisper can be heard far away.
Standing on the temple platform at the north end of the ball court, you can hear a whisper from 46 meters away.
From the platform of the temple north of the ball court, a whisper can be heard 150 ft (46 m) away.
-
The round building is called the snail.
El Caracol means 'the snail'. The round observatory gets its name from its spiral staircase.
El Caracol, a circular stellar observatory, is named for its spiral staircase.
Words to know
- Maya
- the Indigenous people of southern Mexico, Guatemala and Belize, and their ancient civilization
- cenote
- a deep natural hole in limestone rock that reaches water underground
- pyramid
- a building with a wide base and sides that slope or step up toward the top
- observatory
- a building for watching the sky, the stars and the planets
- limestone
- a rock that can be cut into blocks for building
- equinox
- one of the two days each year, in spring and fall, when day and night are about the same length
- ruin
- what is left of a building or city after a very long time
Discovery challenge
-
Which country is Chichén Itzá in?
In which country is Chichén Itzá?
Which country's national institute of anthropology and history cares for Chichén Itzá?
- Mexico
- Peru
- Egypt
Show the answer
Mexico
Mexico! It is in Mexico, in North America.
Chichén Itzá is on the Yucatán Peninsula in southeastern Mexico.
Mexico: INAH is in charge of the care and conservation of the site.
-
Who built Chichén Itzá?
Which people built Chichén Itzá?
Which civilization founded Chichén Itzá around the 6th century CE?
- The Maya
- The Romans
- The Inca
Show the answer
The Maya
The Maya! They built cities of stone long ago.
Maya people of the Yucatán Peninsula founded the city, and later builders mixed in ideas from central Mexico.
Maya peoples of Yucatán founded it; from the 10th century a style blending Maya and Toltec traditions developed.
-
How many steps does the big pyramid have in all?
How many steps does El Castillo have, counting the top step?
Counting the step of the top platform, how many steps do El Castillo's four stairways total?
- 365
- 100
- 1,000
Show the answer
365
365! That is the same as the days in a year.
Each side has 91 steps. Four times 91 is 364, and the top step makes 365.
4 × 91 = 364, plus the top platform's step: 365, the days of the solar year.
-
What is a cenote?
What is a cenote?
What is a cenote, the feature that gave Chichén Itzá its water?
- A natural water hole in the rock
- A tall stone tower
- A wooden boat
Show the answer
A natural water hole in the rock
A natural hole in the rock with water at the bottom.
Cenotes are deep natural holes in limestone that reach water underground.
A sinkhole in the limestone; in this arid region, cenotes are the only source of water.
-
What did people do at the round building called El Caracol?
What was El Caracol, the round building, used for?
What was El Caracol, the circular building named for its spiral staircase, used for?
- Watching the sky
- Storing corn
- Keeping animals
Show the answer
Watching the sky
They watched the sky and the stars.
El Caracol was an observatory, a building for watching the sky.
A circular stellar observatory, named for its spiral staircase.
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For parents & teachers
What children will learn
- Locate the Yucatán Peninsula and explain why cenotes mattered for a city in a land without rivers.
- Describe how the Maya built El Castillo and what its 365 steps add up to.
- Name the main buildings of Chichén Itzá and what each was used for.
- Recognize that Maya people and languages are still part of life in the region today.
Recommended ages: 3 to 17 · About 15 minutes
Talk about it
- Why do you think people built a big city right next to the cenotes?
- The Maya studied the sky carefully. Why might knowing about the sun and the seasons help people who grow food?
- How can archaeologists tell that two groups of buildings were made at different times?
Try at home or in class
- Build a stepped pyramid from building blocks with a stairway on each side, then count the steps on one side and multiply by four.
- On a sunny day, stand a pencil upright in modeling clay outdoors and mark the tip of its shadow every hour to see how the sun's path changes.
Key vocabulary: Maya, cenote, pyramid, observatory, limestone, equinox, ruin
Where these facts come from
- Wikidata , Wikimedia Foundation (CC0 1.0)
- Pre-Hispanic City of Chichen-Itza , UNESCO World Heritage Centre
- Zona Arqueológica de Chichén Itzá , Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia (INAH)
- Alistan la inauguración del Gran Museo Maya de Chichén Itzá (Boletín 113, February 28, 2024) , Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia (INAH)
- Chichén Itzá , Encyclopaedia Britannica
- Maya , Encyclopaedia Britannica
- UNESCO World Heritage List , UNESCO World Heritage Centre (Linked as a reference; site facts come from Wikidata)
- Wikimedia Commons , Wikimedia Foundation (Per file (public domain, CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA); see each media record)
Checked, not yet human-reviewed. Last updated October 24, 2026. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.