TRIP TO THE YUCATAN CONTINUED
ANOTHER DIVING GOD
Temple of the Diving God - Above the door is a niche which contains the Diving God with wings on his arms from shoulder to elbow. A deity with a bird's tail and with wings on his arms and shoulders and is portrayed in the act of flying downward. "It has also been suggested that he represents the dying sun., a conception which may be accurate when he is presented, as here, on the west side of the temple."
TULUM TEMPLE OF THE FRESCOES AND THE CASTILLO
Temple of the Frescoes in the foreground (Castillo on the hill) - There are three recessed niches over the entrance which contained the Diving God in the center and seated figures with elaborate headdresses on the sides. (Guide said the Diving God was on the west and designated the setting of the sun.)
CASTILLO, TULUM
Main stairway is thirty feet wide and twenty-five feet high and leads to the terrace upon which is located a two-room temple. In front of the temple is a "small upright stone which apparently served as a sacrificial stone. . ."
HOOK ON A WALL AT TULUM
WATCH TOWER BY THE CARIBBEAN, TULUM
EL CASTILLO, CHICHEN ITZA
At the hub of Toltec Chichen stands the Castillo. Inside the Castillo is an earlier Toltec-Maya pyramid, with beautifully preserved details.
Chitchen Itza - Taken by Toltec forces from the sea. Blending of Toltec and Maya religion and society - the Jaguar and Eagle knights rub elbows with men in traditional Maya costume and Mexican astral deities coexist with Maya gods.
BALL COURT
Bas Relief images on the wall of the Ball Court
THE PLUMED SERPENT
Its head and the supporting bas-relief, flanking the Ball Court at Chichen Itza
ANOTHER VIEW OF THE PLUMED SERPENT
THE CARACOL AT CHICHEN ITZA
Caracol - means "snail" of "winding staircase." Completed in late Maya Classic stage between A.D. 600 and 850.
A CLOSER VIEW OF THE CARACOL
The caracol contains an observatory. Openings mark the setting of the moon at both sourthern declination and northern declination.
TEMPLE OF THE WARRIORS, CHICHEN ITZA
Temple of the Warriors - Entrance to the temple (not seen here) flanked by a pair of feathered serpents, heads at the ground and tails in the air. A grandiose replica of Pyramid B at Tula in Mexico, and a symbol of Toltec ascendancy over Yucatan.
SKULL WALL NEAR THE BALL COURT
BALL COURT