Kukulkan Pyramids
Introduction
The Temple of Kukulcán (also known by the name "El Castillo"),[1] is a pre-Hispanic building located on the Yucatán Peninsula, in the current state of the same name. The current temple was built in the century AD. C. by the Itza Mayans in their capital, the city of Chichén Itzá, originally founded in the century AD. C.[2] Its architect has a pyramidal geometric shape "Pyramid (geometry)"); It has nine levels, four main facades, each with a central staircase, and an upper platform, topped by a temple.
In this construction, the Mayan entity Kukulcán (from Yucatecan Mayan: Kꞌuꞌukꞌul Kaan) was worshiped,[3] which is why serpentine motifs can be seen in the architectural decoration. On the other hand, it also has symbolism that alludes to the most important numbers used in the agricultural solar calendar), the Tzolkin calendar (sacred calendar) and the calendar wheel. The alignment of the pyramid's construction allows various phenomena of light and shadow to be observed, which occur in its own body during the equinoxes and solstices each year.[4][5][6].
In 1988, UNESCO declared the Mayan city of Chichén Itzá as a World Heritage Site.[7] Almost twenty years later, the Swiss filmmaker Bernard Weber" called, through the New Open World Corporation"), a "global election" (that is, based on the Internet and in which theoretically anyone with access to the network could vote) to choose the New Wonders of the World, and the temple of Kukulcán was chosen from July 7, 2007 as one of the "New Seven Wonders of the Contemporary World." It is worth mentioning that it was this structure - and not the archaeological site in its entirety - that was the winner.[8] This confusion is due to the fact that the Kukulcán pyramid is one of the main structures of the place.[9].
Dimensions
Compared to the pyramid of Cheops in Egypt, or even with the pyramid of the Sun "Pyramid of the Sun (Teotihuacan)") of Teotihuacán, the dimensions of the pyramidal basement of Kukulcán are small:
As for height, the pyramid of Cheops measures approximately 147 m and that of the Sun, 65 m, not including the supposed 10 meters that its temple would have; For its part, the height of 55.3 m at the bases of its facades.
In this way, the measurements of the Kukulcán temple do not compete with other similar constructions in the world; even the Great Jaguar Temple pyramid at Tikal (47 m) is taller. It is its architectural characteristics, its calendrical and astronomical symbolisms that make it stand out in a particular way.[10].