Ball Court

A view of the ball court. (Image Credit: Gil Mendez).

A view of the ball court. (Image Credit: Gil Mendez).

The North Temple rises above the northern wall of the ballcourt's playing field. It is a one-room temple with a vaulted roof, archaeologically important for its extensive relief carvings. It is the first temple to use a sloping elevation on its ...

The North Temple of the Great Ballcourt is thought to have been built during the period of the Itza domination at Chichen, around 900AD. The carvings on the back wall depict different scenes in the ascent, domination, death, and descent into the ...

Scenes on the back wall of the North Temple depict the lord and ruler Kukulkan, Mayan counterpart to the central Mexican plumed deity Quetzalcoatl, in various stages of life and death: sitting on a jaguar throne flanked by warriors; as a ...

The Great Ballcourt of Chichen Itza is the largest and most splendid of all the Mesoamerican ballcourts, of which there are many. The walls which flank its long sides measure 272 feet long and 27 feet high. The ballcourt spans 99 feet across. The ...

The North Temple sits above the north wall of the Great Ballcourt and overlooks the playing field. Along the right side of the photograph is the east wall of the court, a high vertical wall that runs the length of the ballcourt and mirrors the ...

The North Temple of the Great Ballcourt is esteemed for its pioneering architectural elements such as the sloping facade, and for the extensive relief carvings that adorn its interior and have remained largely intact. They show a creation scene, ...

In this panel section of carvings from the Great Ball Court's east wall, two ball players wear their protective and ritual attire. (Image Credit: Jim Spadaccini, Ideum)

Close-up of carvings along the ballcourt's east wall. This player's headdress and the plate through his nose are visible. All of the Ballcourt reliefs (there are six in all) depict the decapitation of a ballcourt player; it is possible that this ...

The eastern wall of the ballcourt with the Castillo in the background. The Temple of the Jaguars is also set into this wall, but out of the frame. The Great Ballcourt is 166 meters long, or over 1.5 times the length of a modern American football ...

Sunset over the ball court. (Image Credit: Marco Antonio Pacheco).

A view of the ball court. (Image Credit: Bryan Mendez, UC Berkeley).

A view of the North Temple at the ball court. (Image Credit: Bryan Mendez, UC Berkeley).

A detail of the ball court. (Image Credit: Bryan Mendez, UC Berkeley).