Chichen Itza

Chichen Itza was a large pre-Columbian city built by the Maya people, whose ruins lie in Yucatán, Mexico, between Valladolid and Mérida. It was a major focal point of the Northern Maya Lowlands from the Late Classic into the early Postclassic, and in the 10th century rose to be a regional capital controlling the area from central Yucatán to the north coast. Its buildings mix central Mexican styles with the Puuc and Chenes styles of the region, among them the Temple of Kukulcán (El Castillo), the Great Ball Court and the Sacred Cenote. It declined as a regional center by 1100, and Francisco de Montejo the Younger, who tried to make it a Spanish capital, abandoned it in 1534.