Yucatecan, Mexican and Mayan Cooking courses

Mayan Beach Garden / Mayan Del Playa jardin

Contact Us
FAQs
MAP - How to Find Us

YUCATAN RUINS
OTHER MEXICAN RUINS
Monte Alban
Teotihuacan

Maya Ruins > CHICANNA, Campeche

>Chicanna is not a large Mayan site, but is well worth the visit. It's close to the road and very flat, so it's easy to see in about 1.5 hours. Close to Xpuhil and Becan, you can easily see all three in one day. Stay across the street at Eco Village Resort and you can walk to Chicanna. 50 kilometers west of Chicanna is Balamku. It can easily be seen on the same day as well.

The ancient name of the site is not known. It was discovered in 1966 when it was given its present name, which refers to the facade of Structure II: chi (mouth) can (serpent) and na' ( house) or House of the Serpent Mouth.


The quality of the carvings make Chicanna worthwhile.

Chicanna Structure XX
Structure XX (
6 in the map above)

Structure XX is the tallest of the structures at Chicanna.

Chicanna is not as old as Becan. It was inhabited from 100 BC to around AD 1100

Detail of the second story of Structure XX. This building has four Chac Muls lined up on the corner. While the noses are broken, the quality of the carvings are superb.
Chicanna

This is a picture of the House of the Serpent Mouth. If you look carefully, you can see that the door is a mouth, the teeth over the doorway, and the steps are the bottom teeth. If you look above the teeth you will see two eyes and a nose.

This building is situated on the east side of the Plaza, the most important cardinal point in the Maya vision of hte universe as it alludes to the place where the sun, which was very much worshipped in ancient times is reborn daily. Inside there are remains of eight rooms: three to the front and five on the back side, all roofed over with the Maya arch. The rooms have benches for resting and spending the night.

The decoration of the facade is one of the most complete and best preserved represtations of Itzamna.


View Larger Map
 

Last updated: June 21, 2012

Home | Activities | Mayan Ruins | Accommodations | Travel Tips | Costa Maya & Mahahual | Recipes
FAQs | About us | Site directory | Links | Costa Maya Newsletter | Press Releases

Contact us via e-mail at info@mayanbeachgarden.com or use our Contact us page

Copyright MMB Inc. and MMBKIM copyright 2007