Gran Juego de Pelota

Prepare yourself to enter an arena of truly staggering proportions. You are standing at the entrance to the Gran Juego de Pelota, the Great Ball Court of Chichen Itza. …

Standing in the very center of the court, turn your attention to the exact middle of the towering vertical walls flanking the field. Look high up, nearly twenty feet off the ground, and you will see a large, intricately carved…

To truly appreciate the Great Ball Court, we must delve into the brutal, exhausting rules of the game played within it, known as Pok-ta-Pok. First, consider the ball itself. …

We now come to one of the most astonishing features of the Great Ball Court: its unparalleled acoustic engineering. It is highly recommended that you experience this for yourself if the crowds are quiet enough. …

Look up to the high eastern wall of the ball court. Perched dramatically atop the massive structure is the beautifully adorned Temple of the Jaguar. …

To understand the terrifyingly high stakes of Pok-ta-Pok, walk closely along the low, sloping benches that run along the bottom of the two massive parallel walls. Carved deeply into the limestone are a series of six distinct,…

At the far northern edge of the playing field stands a small, beautifully proportioned building known as the Temple of the Bearded Man. While the king watched from the elevated Temple of the Jaguar on the side wall, this small…

As you stand in the center of the Gran Juego de Pelota for the last time, take a moment to look down the vast, empty expanse of green grass, framed by the towering limestone walls. The heavy rubber ball no longer bounces here,…