Why go
The small namesake temple preserves a Long Count date corresponding to 30 July 878. Nearby, Casa de los Caracoles and other carved buildings show how a complex changed over time. Read this as context for the wider city rather than a promise that each structure can be reached.
What to look for
- The dated lintel was reused from an older building; its date does not date the present temple.
- Casa de los Caracoles takes its name from shell motifs along its middle cornice.
- A monumental turtle-shaped round altar is among the group’s distinctive features.
The full story
South of El Castillo near sacbé 7, the Grupo de la Fecha formed a walled compound with large and small arched entries. Its central temple passed through at least four construction phases. The inscribed lintel carries a rare Long Count date at Chichen Itza, equivalent to 30 July 878, but it was taken from an earlier building. The inscription therefore cannot by itself fix the age of the temple now standing. Casa de los Caracoles, or House of the Snails, has a sculpted west façade with figures set among curling vines. One interpretation connects those scenes with the origins of a prominent Cupul family, but that reading remains tentative. Excavators reassembled fallen relief stones, and the building’s large column-supported room is partly reconstructed. Blocked passages, pierced walls and hearths indicate that its use changed late in its history. Casa de los Búhos and Casa de los Monos have other carved façades that were once painted.