Las Monjas - The Palace They Called a Convent
Photo: Tony Hisgett from Birmingham, UK, CC BY 2.0 (cropped)
A stop on Chichen Itza Self-Guided Tour, a free self-guided tour.
This large complex is among the older buildings you will see today, built in the Puuc style common in the Terminal Classic period, with crisp stone mosaics on its upper walls. The Spanish called it Las Monjas, the nuns, probably because its many rooms reminded them of a convent. It was actually a palace and seat of government.
Hieroglyphic texts here often name K'ak'upakal, one of the city's best-known rulers. Walk to the east annex to see its showpiece: a facade in the Chenes style where the whole doorway forms the open mouth of a giant creature. Next to it stands a small building called La Iglesia, the church, whose upper walls carry long-nosed masks that some scholars identify as the rain god Chaak and others as the creator god Itzamnaaj.
This is your last stop. Take a final look at the stone masks, then follow the path north back to the entrance, about 500 meters away. Drink some water before you go.
Getting here: From El Caracol, walk a short way south to the large building complex just beyond it.
Did you know?: Frederick Catherwood drew Las Monjas during his travels with John Lloyd Stephens, and his images, published in 1843, helped make Chichen Itza famous abroad.
Photo op: Frame the east annex straight on so the creature-mouth doorway fills the center of your shot.
More on Wikipedia: Chichen Itza · Puuc · Chaac
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