Temple of Xtoloc

Why go

The temple beside Cenote Xtoloc makes the waterhole feel like part of a built precinct, not an isolated natural feature. Look at their relationship from the permitted route and then continue through the southern structures. The paired stop is valuable because the temple and cenote tell different parts of the site story.

The full story

The ancient approach from the Osario area followed a sacbe that had partly collapsed over cavities below and was later reconstructed. At the temple, a four-column entrance led to a long rectangular portico supported by six columns. Two steps higher, a pair of carved square pillars marked the entrance to a small room. A narrow central doorway then led to a still smaller rear chamber with a high stone bench. This arrangement adapted a room sequence used in other small temples at Chichen Itza. The relief carving is comparatively rough in design and execution, especially beside grander sculpture elsewhere at the site. The temple's position beside the cenote and its layered entrance sequence are more informative than any claim that visitors can follow the ancient passage through every room today.

Useful to know

• View from the public visitor path; do not climb or enter protected structures.

Your next visit

Estimated · Declared scenario and planning estimates; no live opening, weather, queue or booking service.