Chichen Itza to open new site, new experience in 2022 [View all]

[Judi Lynn]

The new section at Chichén Itzá will be open by reservation only.

Chichén Viejo is set deep in the jungle and vegetation will be left in its natural state

Published on Monday, February 1, 2021

A new section of the Chichén Iztá archaeological site will open to the public in 2022, the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) has announced.

Called Chichén Viejo, or Old Chichén, the new section is set deep in jungle in an area 900 meters south of El Castillo, the towering pyramid that is the largest structure of the ancient Mayan city, located about 40 kilometers west of Valladolid, Yucatán.

“This new space represents a formidable experience because it’s embedded in the jungle,” Marco Antonio Santos, director of the Chichén Itzá site, told the newspaper Milenio.

“It’s a kind of neighborhood that contains temples and palaces whose decorations evoke scenes that are possibly from the Popol Vuh,” he said, referring to a text that recounts the mythology and history of the K’iche people, who are part of the Maya.

“In other words, [scenes] from the creation of the cosmos. Here [in Chichén Viejo] priests officiated at and performed rituals related to fertility and primal divine deeds.”

Santos said that exploration work in the new section that was halted in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic will resume in 2021 to prepare it for its opening to the public next year.

However, vegetation covering some of the structures will not be removed, the INAH archaeologist said.

In the past vegetation at archaeological sites was completely removed but “we realized that was a serious mistake because we were removing the skin that protected the sites,” Santos said.

More:
https://mexiconewsdaily.com/news/chichen-itza-to-open-new-site-new-experience-in-2022/



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