Chichén Itzá

Chichén Itzá, about two and a half hours from Cancun, was one of the great cities of the Maya world and is one of the New Seven Wonders of the World. Its pyramid of Kukulcán, El Castillo, shows the Maya's knowledge of astronomy: on the equinoxes the sun draws a serpent of light and shadow down its staircase.

These photos show El Castillo by day and during the night light show, the Temple of the Warriors and its thousand columns, the round observatory known as El Caracol, the serpent heads and the stone ring of the Great Ball Court, and the Sacred Cenote.