The Mayan people built many buildings. One ancient temple is very popular. It was built in the ancient city of Chichen Itza so is often called by that name. Early Spanish explorers named it El Castillo, meaning the "Castle". The pyramid does not resemble a castle though.
The ninety-foot tall pyramid was built directly on the foundations of previous temples. The architecture of the pyramid matches up to a calendar. Each of the four sides has a stairway with ninety-one steps, which together with the shared step of the platform at the top, add up to 365, the number of days in a year. There are 52 panels on the temple to represent the number of weeks in a year. At the bottom of one side, the ancient Mayans carved a large snake head. During the fall and spring equinox the shadow of the sun forms an enormous snake body which lines up with this carved snake head.
There are other buildings nearby. The Temple of Warriors (or Temple of a Thousand Columns) has a stone at the top where steaming human hearts were offered as a sacrifice to the gods. Glyphs (Mayan writing) have been carved into many pieces of the stones still standing. These are called stelas. Archaeologists can piece together the history of the Mayans by reading the glyphs left behind.
There is also an ancient ball court where they played the game of pokta-pok. Many people (called tourists) visit this area every year. Often people on a cruise will take an excursion to this area just to see these Mayan buildings. Chichen Itza is located about 100 miles from the Mexican city of Cancun. Admission to the area is 177 pesos (approximately $18 US dollars).