The Castillo, or rather temple,[128] is reared on a pyramid, facing north and south, and is the most interesting monument at Chichen; its four sides are occupied with staircases, facing the cardinal points. Our drawing shows the western façade. The base of the pyramid measures 175 feet; it consists of nine small esplanades, narrowing towards the top, supported by perpendicular walls, and terminates in a structure about 39 feet on one side by 21 feet high. The upper platform is 68 feet above the level of the plain, having a flight of ninety steps, 39 feet wide, leading up to it.
The name of El Castillo (the fortress), given to this building is appropriate enough; since throughout Central America, temples, in times of war, became real strongholds, on whose gigantic terraces the last desperate conflict was waged against an invading and victorious foe. The struggle might last some time, but was always attended with heavy loss, for each terrace had to be carried against men resolved to die. In the assault on the great temple in Mexico, the Spaniards were several times repulsed before they could get possession of the four esplanades of the pyramid; and when these were taken a fierce encounter followed on the upper platform, which only ended with the utter annihilation of the Aztecs, who were either slaughtered on the spot or hurled down the sides of the pyramid.
NORTHERN FAÇADE OF THE NUNNERY OF CHICHEN-ITZA.
The only decoration of the western and southern sides consists in two beautiful cornices, while the interior of the long corridor shows no trace of ornamentation, save over the doors, where gigantic warriors are sculptured. The principal or northern façade must have been very striking when Landa saw it in 1560. Our photograph shows its dilapidated condition, but it can easily be reconstructed. It consists of a portico supported by two massive columns connected by wooden lintels, resembling that in the Nunnery; this portico gives access to a gallery which occupies the whole width of the building. A large room, which must have been the sanctuary, is entered by the only opening out of the gallery, while two pillars with square capitals supported a double corbel vault. Here the stairway was wider, and on each side, forming a balustrade, is a gigantic plumed serpent, whose head and protruding tongue run down the balustrade. All these columns, pillars, and wooden lintels, are covered with sculptures and bas-reliefs, the impressions of which kept us closely at work for several days.
LEFT WING OF THE NUNNERY OF CHICHEN-ITZA.
As in Mexico, Palenque, and Tula, there were no doors properly so called at Chichen, and no traces of hinges are found; but a bamboo or wickerwork screen was suspended across the entrance, and secured at night with a bar. The inner rooms were divided off by hangings, which probably also served to cover the windows. We notice everywhere the small holes in the pillars into which the bars fitted.
Landa mentions the two serpents of the grand staircase, and that the corridor was probably used for burning perfumes: “Over the door is a kind of coat-of-arms sculptured in stone, which I could not read. Extending round this edifice is a series of solid constructions; the intervening distances are coated with cement in perfect condition, which looks quite new, so hard was the mortar in which it was laid.”[129] These stucco layers are facsimiles of those at Tula and Teotihuacan, and characteristic of the Toltecs. In the three centuries that have elapsed since the bishop visited these monuments, vegetation has completely over-run them, but it was not so in his time.
