Chichen Itza, meaning at the mouth of the well of the Itza, is a big pre-Columbian site belonging to the Maya civilization. Spreading in the northern center of the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico, it exhibited multiple architectural styles and was once the major hub in the northern Maya lowlands. On spring equinox, many visitors used to throng this site to see the Temple of Kukulcan wherein the feathered serpent god was seen to descend downwards to the side of the pyramid seen through the light-and-shadow effect. The site is full of superb stone buildings out of which many are restored and all of them are linked by a dense system of 100 paved roads called sacbeob. Based on the archaeological styles, the buildings are grouped in architectonic sets wherein each set is separated via low walls. Some of these grouped complexes include the  [...]

Located in southern Mexico, Maya Palenque was a Maya city state that witnessed its boom in the 7th century CE and the same was immersed into a forest on decline. Today, it has been unearthed and is a popular archaeological site near the Usumacinta River in the Mexican state of Chiapas at the height of 150 m. Much of the ancient Palenque has been restored by obtaining much information from its symbolic inscriptions on several monuments. Not only in reconstruction, but the inscriptions have told the stories of the Maya settlement who have resided since centuries here to the historians. Attracting thousands of visitors, Palenque is not that huge in size, but boasts a few exemplary art pieces of the superb architecture, sculpture, roof comb and bas-relief carvings of the Maya community. Important Monuments The Palace In Maya Palenque,  [...]

Machu Picchu, meaning Old Peak, is a sacred pre-Columbian spot at 2,430 m on a mountain edge above the Urubamba Valley in Peru. Designated as a Historical Sanctuary in Peru and World Heritage Site, it has been described as “an absolute masterpiece of architecture and a unique testimony to the Inca civilization.” Not only this, but it was among the New Seven Wonders of the World when an online and telephonic poll was conducted by the New7Wonders foundation. Tracing its history, many archaeologists are of the opinion that Machu Picchu was constructed in 1430 A.D. in the classical Inca style with dry-stone walls for the Inca emperor Pachacuti (1438–1472). Known as the ‘The Lost City of the Incas’, it has until now attracted many tourists from all around the world. Introduced to the world in 1911 by the American historian Hiram  [...]