Campeche Off The Beaten Path

The native game of pelota was played here as in many other sites throughout Mexico. The object was to knock a ball through hoops that were high on the sides of the pelota field. The pelota field here is found on the south side of the Grand Plaza, a small pyramid rising on the western side.

The Yucatan Peninsula is honeycombed by limestone. Some of the World’s largest cave systems can be found here. The limestone served as the basic building material for the Mayans. Stucco was used to mold decorations for the buildings, though due to its fragile nature, not many of the decorations have survived the years. Here, at the Templo de los Mascarones, two fine stucco masks have, however, been uncovered.

This is the heart of the restored complex at Edzna. Here are the largest excavated temples. They are concentrated on the east side of the Grand Plaza in keeping with the importance of the east in Mayan culture - the side of the daily rebirth of the sun. The Grand Acropolis has a quadangular plan with each side measuring 160 meters. The whole complex is elevated about 8 meters above the Grand Plaza and is accessed by a massive central staircase. Buildings within the Grand Acropolis - Templos de los Cinco Pisos, Templo de la Luna, Templo del Norte - are oriented to the cardinal points of the compass, similar to what can be seen in many areas throughout Mexico.

Built over several centuries, from the 4th to 14th centuries, the Temple of Five Floors is the main edifice within the Grand Acropolis. One of the largest pyramids in the Yucatan, the structure reaches a height of 31.5 meters and not all of the sides have been excavated. Within, there are 27 different rooms that have been discovered. The first four floors were thought to be living quarters for the priests with the top floor reserved for a shrine and altar.

The structure is a truly amazing work. The base of the building measures 60 square meters. There are a few decorations that can be seen near the base still. Temperatures here, as at many other Mayan sites, can easily soar to near 40C - over 100F. The heat radiates off the limestone making for a very warm day. Bring plenty of water and expect to do a little sweating.

On the north side of the Grand Acropolis is this semi-excavated temple. Built in many stages, the first dating to 300-500 AD, with stairways across the entire south side of the structure - probably serving as galleries like for the Nochona building. Several other construction phases added structures to the building and concluded with the upper temple being completed between 1100-1400 AD. Several Mayan architectural styles are in evidence on this building as well as throughout the complex - Puuc, Chenes, Chontal.

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In the Small Acropolis, two stucco masks have been uncovered -- one representing the sun god at sunrise and the other at sunset. We were told (by the plaques) that some colour remains of these masks -- red stucco, blue-green jadeite and black (unless you know what you are looking for, it is hard to tell).

The masks are protected from the sun by a wooden cover.

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All native communities seemed to have ball courts, and Edzna was no exception, although this one is smaller than most -- between two large buildings. The plaque indicates that this would have been a "practice ball court".

It (the plaque) also said that the court was carefully aligned with a north-south orientation of the principal line of the court. I wonder if that is the case in all ball courts?

I also included a picture of part of that plaque as it has an image of one of the players. According to their archeiologist, ball players had padding like an (American) football player.