Quadrangulo de las Monjas, Piramid del Adivino and the Palacio del Gobernador from the Gran Piramide
Piramid del Adivino
Eagle carving
We visited Uxmal and Kabah on an excursion from Merida.
Uxmal was a much more compact site than Chichen Itza, and much less crowded.
Uxmal is near the Puuc Hills, the only hills on the Yucatan peninsula and water was collected from rainfall rather than from cenotes. For this reason the rain god Chac was very important here, and masks of him are everywhere.
Piramid del Adivino
Piramid del Adivino, the entrance on the steps is to Templo IV
Masks of Chac flanking the stairway of the Piramid del Adivino
Mask of the rain god Chac
Piramid del Adivino from the Palacio del Gobernador
The Piramide del Adivino is unusual because it has an oval base. Some people say this is because the archaeologists reconstructed it wrong.
Like most other Mayan Pyramids it was built over several other pyramids. In this case four earlier structures have been found. Some of the earlier temples are accessible, but the pyramid was closed when we were there.
Masks of Chac
Bird reliefs on the outside of the house of the birds
More masks of Chac
The Quadrangulo de las Monjas consists of four buildings around a quadrangle, each built on a different level. Each building is decorated in a different style and represents a different level of the Mayan universe.
Inside the Quadrangulo de las Monjas. The west and north buildings.
Inside the Quadrangulo de las Monjas. The Piramide del Adivino behind the east building
The east building of the Quadrangulo de las Monjas
The north building of the Quadrangulo de las Monjas
The lattice style of decoration is typical of Uxmal. At Chichen Itza the decoration carved into the building stone. At Uxmal the decoration on the buildings was added afterwards as a veneer or mosaic.
The south building
The Palacio del Gobernador and Gran Piramide behind the south building of the Quadrangulo de las Monjas
Decoration on the west building
The north building
Decoration on the north building
The west building
The north building represents heaven, and has thirteen doors reflecting the thirteen levels of heaven. The west building has seven doorways, (seven is the mystical number of the earth) and represents the place where the sun descends into the underworld.
The east building represents the place where the sun is reborn. The south building has nine doorways. Xibalba, the Mayan underworld, has nine layers.
Figure on the west building
Entrance through the south building
The south building with the Palacio del Gobernador and Gran Piramide in the background
The Gran Piramide
The roofcomb of El Palomar from the Gran Piramide
Facade of the Palacio de la Gobernador
Detail of the facade
Piramide del Adivino from Palacio de la Gobernador
After seeing Uxmal we went to the nearby site of Kabah. The main building here is called the Codz Poop, or Palace of Masks, and is completely covered on one side with masks of Chac.
Masks of Chac on the Codz Poop
The Codz Poop
The Codz Poop
The other side of the Codz Poop has these two statues.
This building is next to Codz Poop