Uxmal is a Maya city which is founded around 800 A.D. and
reached his peak at around 900 AD. Uxmal and Chichén Itzá are called the ' Puuc sites
', referring to the Puuc hills in this area and to their characteristic
construction style. After the waste of the cities in the Southern
lowland, such as Tikal, came in the period (800-1000 A.D.) the Puuc cities
to prosperity.
Problem in this region was that the ground was so porous that there were no
rivers and lakes. Therefore Puuc-Maya's developed the ingenious method to
obtain underground water and to store in hand-made wells. Also they used
natural water sources in caves. The Puuc-style is very harmonious and is
well known of its mosaic facades, varnished masonry, small relief-pillars
and Chac-masks with hook noses on the frontage and corners of buildings. The
rain god Chac was in this country with little rain and
without rivers an important deity. Uxmal means: "built 3 times" and refers to
the 3 phases
of construction. It was the capital of the Puuc region and is considered as
the most beautiful Puuc-city.
Piramide del Aidvino, pyramid of the magician. Also named the pyramid of the
dwarf, or pyramid of the fortune-teller. According to the legend the
pyramid has been built in 1 night by the son of a wizard, a dwarf who had
come from an egg. Here the complete legend
The pyramid is in fact a combination of 5 different temples of which the
construction must have taken several centuries. The pyramid has an altitude
of 42 meter. Unfortunally you may not climb the pyramid anymore (July 2004)
Back side of the pyramid. It must present a huge
mask.
The square behind the pyramid of the wizard is called
Casa de las Monjas, convent of the nuns. It is a name which the
Spaniards gave to the building because it reminded them to cloisters of
Spain. It exists of 4 large long palaces around a rectangular inner court.
These correspond with the layout of the Maya-cosmos. The north building, the
highest, is called the "sky house". At the lowest place lies the Southern
building that shows symbols of the underworld. The buildings in east
and west have been built on an altitude between north and south. The west
wall on the picture at the left is 60 meters long and has impressive figures
on it.
Detail of the west wall.
A rattle-snake, 3 masks of the rain god Chac, stylized
with extensions of images of Chac.
Eastern wall.
We see flattened triangles with the point
down. It exists of 8 horizontal rods. The 4 below have snake heads, the
upper 4 an owl heads. This bird represents the night and dead in the Maya
mythology.
It is still difficult to see !!
Everywhere on the buildings we see Chac masks. I have selected a few so that
you can get a clear picture of the masks.
Iguana
Iguana
And another Iguana.
You see them everywhere here in Uxmal.
Also in Uxmal there is still a lot to discover. Here we see
a, with a vegetation overgrown, temple that is still not exposed.
Left the convent of the nuns, at the right the governor's
palace.
The house of the
doves. So-called because a discoverer was reminded of a dovecote when he
first saw the fretwork of the roof combs. It is a remainder of a residential
complex. The extensive roof combs (9 in total) were used to make compact
buildings look larger.
In the background the convent of the nuns and the pyramid.
The large pyramid
Again we see the 9 platforms. Only the North side has
been restored. The other sides are still covered with earth and vegetation.
On top the temple of the Guacamayas. In the temple a mask of CHAC.
The governor's
palace. It has a length of more than 100 meters! It is the most beautiful
building of Uxmal because of its magnificent decoration. There are 103
Chac-masks on the wall, such
placed that they represent horizontally and diagonal crawling snakes.
The governor's palace was build by
Chan Chaak, governor of Uxmal, who reigned around 900 A.D. We see him here
sitting on a throne and surrounded by celestial snakes.
Crown of the two-headed jaguar,
symbol of the royal power. Served as a throne for the Uxmal dignitaries. The
2 heads of this seat of honor refer to the dualism of the lords or hierarch:
being both divine and human, its obligations as a civil governor and highest
sacramental official. etc. etc.. Yes yes....
In the background the convent of the nuns and the pyramid.
House of the turtles
A line of appealing and well-shaped turtles form the
principal decoration in the frieze appearing on all four sides and
give the building its name. Since turtles are associated with rain, it's
believed that the edifice was a temple used in the worship of water. And as
we know, water was exceptionally in the Puuc-region
A last view on the pyramid of the Magician.
We go further in the direction of Merida...but first something to eat on the
way to it.
Tot nu toe
betreft het een viertal vakanties: Suriname,
Egypte, Peru, Bolivia en Mexico. Verder een kort
fotoverslag van de zonsverduistering in 1999 te
noord-frankrijk in de buurt van het plaatsje
Spincourt. Er is een mogelijkheid om mijn
gastenboek te tekenen. Deze homepage is
ontworpen door Sander van Kuppevelt (sandervk).
