Archaeology: What's Hot Now: La Iglesia (The Church)

Archaeology: What's Hot Now These articles that had the largest increase in popularity over the last week // via fulltextrssfeed.com

La Iglesia (The Church) Feb 25th 2012, 11:08 This building was named la Iglesia (the Church) by the Spanish, probably simply because it was located right next to the Nunnery. This rectangular building is of classic Puuc construction with an overlay of central Yucatan styles (Chenes). This is probably one of the most frequently drawn and photographed buildings at Chichén Itzá; famous 19th century drawings were made by both Frederick Catherwood and Desiré Charnay. The Iglesia is rectangular with a single room inside and an entrance on the west side. The outside wall is completely covered with veneer decorations, which extend clear up to the roof comb. The frieze is bounded at ground level by a stepped fret motif and above by a serpent; the stepped fret motif is repeated on the bottom of the roof comb. The most important motif of the decoration is the Chac god mask with a hooked nose standing out on the corners of the building. In addition, there are four figures in pairs between the masks including an armadillo, a snail, a turtle, and a crab, who are the four "bacabs" who hold up the sky in Maya mythology.

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