Chac Masks, Uxmal
Detail of the Pyramid of the Magician at Uxmal.
The Mayan city of Uxmal is one of the most important in Mexico, its major buildings surviving in unusually good condition and distinctively designed, exhibiting the 'Puuc' style (found especially in this area of the Yucatan Penninsula) which employs large areas of semi-abstract geometric surface decoration on the facades of temples and palaces.
This decoration reaches its zenith at Uxmal, where great swathes of patterned relief adorn the major structures along with the distinctive masks of the hook-nosed rain god Chac marking the corners. The cult of Chac was very important here, with rain collected in cisterns providing the principal source of water.
The city is believed to have been founded in the mid 7th century AD but abandoned before the Spanish conquest.
The most significant buildings here are the 'Pyramid of the Magician', the 'Nunnery Quadrangle', the 'Great Pyramid' and the 'Palace of the Governor', all of which represent the highest achievements and most ornate forms of the ancient Mayan Puuc style.
Chac Masks, Uxmal
Detail of the Pyramid of the Magician at Uxmal.
The Mayan city of Uxmal is one of the most important in Mexico, its major buildings surviving in unusually good condition and distinctively designed, exhibiting the 'Puuc' style (found especially in this area of the Yucatan Penninsula) which employs large areas of semi-abstract geometric surface decoration on the facades of temples and palaces.
This decoration reaches its zenith at Uxmal, where great swathes of patterned relief adorn the major structures along with the distinctive masks of the hook-nosed rain god Chac marking the corners. The cult of Chac was very important here, with rain collected in cisterns providing the principal source of water.
The city is believed to have been founded in the mid 7th century AD but abandoned before the Spanish conquest.
The most significant buildings here are the 'Pyramid of the Magician', the 'Nunnery Quadrangle', the 'Great Pyramid' and the 'Palace of the Governor', all of which represent the highest achievements and most ornate forms of the ancient Mayan Puuc style.