Ball stadium in Chichen Itza
Chichen Itza, Chichen Itza, Mexico
Description:
The ball stadium in Chichen Itza is a traditional pre-Columbian American field.
The field is a flat rectangular platform with stone walls along the sides. The stadium in Chichen Itza impresses with its size and amazing architectural solutions.
The size of the main playing field in Chichen Itza is 90 by 30 meters. At the same time, auxiliary, apparently, training fields do not exceed 60 square meters in area.
In the middle of the XX century, archaeologist Leopold Stokowski proved that the acoustic characteristics of the ball field surpass the best European opera halls. The sound literally accumulates in the walls and becomes louder in the evening, when the final competitions were held at the stadium.
On one of the walls of the field there is a bas-relief depicting two men, one of whom is beheaded. From his neck grows a tree, and his body is wrapped around sacred snakes. Historians suggest that the ball game had a ritual meaning, and the captain of the winning team, as the most worthy representative of the tribe, was sacrificed. The soul of the victor ascended to the gods, bypassing the endless ordeals in the 13 levels of the underworld.
The stadium in Chichen Itza is located in the heart of the Indian settlement near the temple complex.