Chichen-Itza
Chichén-Itzà, a Mayan city, now in ruins, in the state of Yucatàn, Mexico. The site is about 70 miles (113 km) east of the city of Mérida. Chichén-Itzà was an important religious center and, in its final phase, the principal city of the Itzà, a northern (possibly Toltec) people who conquered the Maya Indians. Its name, meaning “at the rim of the well of the Itzà,” refers to the city's sacred cenote (sinkhole), which was used for human sacrifices and religious offerings. Among the thousands of objects that archeologists have recovered from the well are art treasures in pottery, jade, copper, and gold.
Important ruins in the city include the Temple of Kukulcàn (or the Castillo), the Temple of the Warriors, and the Caracol, a round tower that may have been an astronomical observatory. These buildings show both Mayan and Toltec features.
The city was probably founded in the sixth century A.D. and was seized by the Itzà in the 10th century. About 1200, Chichèn-Itzà was conquered by the city of Mayapàn and abandoned, except as a holy shrine.