Why go
Diego de Landa’s descriptions help connect the present site to its sixteenth-century afterlife. His references to El Castillo, small platforms and the road to the Sacred Cenote show which features drew attention long before modern excavation. The failed Ciudad Real settlement adds another layer to the ruins.
The full story
In 1533 Francisco de Montejo the Younger established a small settlement called Ciudad Real among the ruins, before Spain had completed its conquest of Yucatán. Its simple dwellings have not been securely identified archaeologically. Indigenous forces besieged the settlement, and it was abandoned. Diego de Landa later wrote that the Spaniards withdrew secretly at night under intense pressure. His account is a colonial perspective on the encounter, not a neutral record of Indigenous motives. Landa arrived in Yucatán in 1549 and described parts of Chichen Itza’s center in some detail. He mentioned El Castillo, two small platforms, the broad road toward the Sacred Cenote and objects found there. Antonio de Ciudad Real left a shorter note about visiting the ruins on 26 July 1588. Together these records show that the ancient city remained a recognizable landscape through the colonial period, even as its monuments acquired new observers and interpretations.