El Castillo - The Pyramid of Kukulcan

Photo: Dennis G. Jarvis, CC BY-SA 2.0 (cropped)

A stop on Chichen Itza Self-Guided Tour, a free self-guided tour.

Here it is: the Temple of Kukulcan, named for the feathered serpent god. The pyramid stands about 24 meters, with a 6-meter temple on top, over a square base about 55 meters per side. Each of its four stairways has about 91 steps. Add the top platform and you reach roughly 365, the days of the solar year.

Near the spring and fall equinoxes, late-afternoon sun strikes the northwest corner and casts a line of triangles of light and shadow down the north staircase railing, joining the carved serpent head at its base. The effect looks like a giant snake sliding down the pyramid and lasts for weeks around each equinox. Whether the builders planned it is still debated.

Inside is an older, smaller pyramid, found in the 1930s, with a red-painted jaguar throne set with jade. Climbing has been closed since 2006, after a visitor died in a fall.

Walk to the foot of the north stairway and find the stone serpent heads.

Getting here: From the colonnade, cross the plaza west to the pyramid and walk to the foot of its north stairway, the one with serpent heads at the base.

Did you know?: Clap your hands at the foot of the staircase: the echo comes back as a falling chirp that acoustics researchers have compared to the call of the quetzal bird.

Photo op: Shoot from the north-west corner of the plaza to catch two faces of the pyramid at once, with the serpent heads at the base of the north stairway.

More on Wikipedia: El Castillo, Chichen Itza · Kukulkan · Equinox

El Castillo - The Pyramid of Kukulcan

Stops on this tour