Urbanism

Pieces to the Puzzle: How the Castillo and Mother Church Work Urbanistically

Pieces to the Puzzle: How the Castillo and Mother Church Work Urbanistically

The role of the city is to be the center of economic, political, and cultural movement. Cities have a dense population compared to the area, so careful planning must go into its development. In the U.S. alone, 55% of the population lives in cities with more than 1,000,000 people, 78% in cities with more than 100,000, and less that 3% live in agricultural areas (Angotti, Tomas. 1993). Since it is so crucial for a city with countless numbers of inhabitants to work properly, there has to be certain building types to facilitate the lives of the people. One of the most important building types is the temple. Temples through out time usually work very similarly urbanistically in the sense that they are centers of religious practice and located in key areas. A temple is a symbol of the culture; it represents the people's beliefs and how devoted they are to them. Temples have usually been elaborate and large scale; examples of this include the Temple of Kukulkбn in Chichйn Itzб, Mexico, and the Mother Church in Boston, Massachusetts. The Temple of Kukulkбn and the Mother Church in Boston are strikingly similar in many ways, including architecturally and how they are used by the people of the city.

Chichйn Itzб was once one of the most powerful kingdoms of pre-Columbian America. In the time between the end of the Classic and beginning of Post-Classic period of Mayan history, around 800c.e. to 1100c.e, it was an important city for local politics, religion, and trade and was crucial to the Mesoamerican social structure. Since this city was so constantly populated, it had to be intricately designed. In order for this complex city to work, careful planning and organization had to go into the urban development in order to make this culturally diverse society.

The history of Chichйn Itzб is quite unique when compared to other Mayan cities.

Its architectural influences come from two different sources. Chichйn Itzб began in the Middle to Late Classic period when some of its Puuc and early Maya structures were built. The Puuc architectural style came from the hilly region west of Chichйn Itzб, and consisted of buildings with different proportions and construction than the future buildings in the north of Chichйn Itzб. Puuc buildings have rubble-filled concrete walls faced by a thin veneer of dressed stone. The exterior walls have plain lower facades supporting upper facades decorated with religious masks and geometric designs. Constructed of individually carved pieces fitted together to form a design, Puuc sculpture resembles a mosaic. The low relief stone and wood sculptured door lintels and columns resemble human figures. While older structures of southern Chichйn Itzб were of Puuc influence, the later built buildings of the north were of Toltec planning. Toltec elements at Chichйn Itzб include stepped-pyramid temples, long colonnades, atlantean figures used as structural supports, low detached platforms faced with carved panels, and doorways formed by twin descending feathered serpent columns. (Kowalski, Jeff Karl. 1999). The result of the Toltec influence from central Mexico created architectural hybrid, known as Toltec-Maya architecture, that gave Chichйn Itzб a very unique distinction from other Maya ruins.

This architectural convergence was a result of a Toltec invasion of the Maya in the 9th century. The Toltec were violent warriors who came from the high lands of central Mexico and invaded the Yucatan peninsula. While the Toltec were a notoriously violent tribe, they conquered Chichйn Itzб, but did not kill the survivors of the siege. This led to a cultural combination with unique qualities in art, architecture, and religion. The Toltec brought with them agricultural and astronomical knowledge, ball courts, artistic and architectural influences, and the worship of their feathered-serpent god Kukulkбn, which was known as Quetzalcoatl before the invasion. The cult of Kukulkбn introduced human sacrifice to the Maya and their strong faith led to the massive temple of Kukulkбn, also known as el Castillo, or the Castle.

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Chichйn Itzб is not a very large city compared to other capitals. With dimensions of 6.5 by 3.2 kmІ, the area was used more as a sacred ground than as a commercial or residential area. Early settlers arrived to Chichйn Itzб probably attracted by the two dozen deep, natural wells called cenotes. One of these cenotes came to be known as "the sacred cenote" as sacrificial human remains as well as religious offerings have been found. The use of the sacred cenote was purely religious as water could be taken from any of the other cenotes in the area. The city itself was contained behind a high wall with an irregular polygonal shape with entrances at the four cardinal directions, north, south, east, and west. The buildings were widely spread along a consistent 17Ñ" east of north, common in many Mexican sites. The openness inside the city walls placed much emphasis on the connection between man and the sky, as opposed to the worshipping the earth as other religious complexes. A new concept in religion replaced the earth gods with celestial worship of the sun, moon, and stars; consequently buildings and courts are open to the heavens for more effective mass communication between the gods and men. (Weaver, Muriel Porter. 1981)

The main temple of Chichйn Itzб is the Castillo, dedicated to the god Kukulkбn. The temple is located in the center of a large clearing in northern, or Toltec, Chichйn Itzб. The pyramid was built on top of an older pyramid, very similar in design. It was built with nine stages and a single staircase, and has a profile resembling that of Puuc structures and a temple with twin chambers on top. The temple is decorated in relief with a procession of jaguars prowling beneath a row of shields. Inside the temple, two famous artifacts were discovered; one being the Red Throne Jaguar and the other a sacrificial Chac-Mool figure. The jaguar is carved out of stone with a flat back to serve as a seat or place of offerings, painted bright red with 73 jade disks making a spotted pattern, jade eyes, and fangs made of sea shells and was probably the throne of the high priest. The Chac-Mool is found in many places in Chichйn Itzб, but it is not certain what their purpose was, though it is believed to be used as a place