El Caracol - The Maya Observatory
Photo: Luigiflas, CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
A stop on Chichen Itza Self-Guided Tour, a free self-guided tour.
This round tower on two square platforms is unlike anything else at the site. The Spanish called it El Caracol, the snail, because of the spiral staircase that winds up inside it. A stela on its upper platform dates it to about the year 906.
Why round? Many researchers think it was used to watch the sky. In the flat Yucatan landscape there are no mountains to mark sunrise and sunset, so a tower above the trees made a fine viewing post. Astronomer Anthony Aveni and colleagues found that sight lines through its windows and doors line up with about 20 of 29 astronomical events that mattered to the Maya, especially the farthest north and south points where Venus sets.
They framed their 1975 paper as a question, though, and part of the tower has collapsed, so some alignments can never be checked.
Look up at the small window openings near the top and picture a skywatcher waiting for Venus.
Getting here: Continue south from the Ossuary along the main path for a few minutes until the round tower appears on its platform.
Did you know?: Of the 29 sky events the Maya are thought to have followed, about 20 have sight lines in this one building.
Photo op: Step back to the west side to frame the round tower on its stepped platform against the sky.
More on Wikipedia: El Caracol, Chichen Itza · Anthony Aveni · Maya astronomy
Stops on this tour
- Main Entrance - Gateway to a Maya City
- Great Ball Court - The Biggest Game in Town
- Temple of the Jaguars - Best Seat at the Game
- Tzompantli - The Wall of Skulls
- Platform of Venus - Tracking the Morning Star
- Sacred Cenote - The Well of Offerings
- Temple of the Warriors - A Tula Look-Alike
- Group of a Thousand Columns - A Forest of Stone
- El Castillo - The Pyramid of Kukulcan
- The Ossuary - High Priest's Grave
- El Caracol - The Maya Observatory
- Las Monjas - The Palace They Called a Convent