Maya cities

Our Maya civilization is made up of separate city-states, each with its own ruler, laws and traditions. One of our most important cities is Chichen Itza which means “Mouth of the well of the Itza” and refers to the two natural wells we call sinkholes that provide a plentiful supply of water. Well, you can’t build a city if you don’t have water. At the centre of Chichen Itza is the temple pyramid of Kukulcan, which measures over twenty-four meters high. The pyramid is surrounded by a wide-open space for markets and ceremonies and there are lots of smaller temples and a palace for our ruler, as well as houses and accommodation for the priests. All these main buildings are built out of stone but ordinary people’s houses are made with adobe mud walls and have thatched roofs. It’s amazing to think how we managed to build all of these amazing structures without any large animals to carry heavy equipment and using stone tools to cut and shape the stone. I’m very proud; I hope they’ll last a long time.