Why go
The city becomes easier to read when the older Las Monjas and Xtoloc area, later Great Terrace monuments and Sacred Cenote are seen as parts of a changing landscape. Its rise, regional ties and decline are supported by different kinds of evidence.
The full story
The site core developed between about AD 750 and 900. An earlier concentration lay southwest of the Xtoloc cenote, beneath and around the structures now known as Las Monjas and El Caracol. After AD 900, the city’s monumental layout expanded. In the tenth century Chichen Itza became a major northern Yucatán capital with influence toward the north coast and along the peninsula. Isla Cerritos probably served its maritime trade. Dated inscriptions known from the site range from AD 832 to 998, but these are selective records rather than a full civic chronicle. The city’s ascent roughly coincided with fragmentation among southern Maya centers. Yaxuna and Coba also lost power, although Chichen Itza’s precise role in their decline is uncertain. Later Chilam Balam traditions tell of Hunac Ceel of Mayapan conquering Chichen Itza and associate him with a dramatic story at the Sacred Cenote. The story belongs to later chronicles; it should not be presented as a verified account of the city’s fall. Archaeological evidence suggests episodes of damage and changing use, but a Mayapan conquest of an active urban Chichen Itza is not established. Pilgrimage and offerings continued after the city’s political prominence diminished.