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The Serpent of Chichén Itzá
La serpiente de Chichén Itzá · A1 · Historia y leyendas · 2 min
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Do you want to see a serpent made of light and shadow? Then come to Chichén Itzá. It's an old Maya city in Mexico, in the Yucatán.
In the city, there is a big stone pyramid. Its name is El Castillo. It's also called the Temple of Kukulcán. For the Maya, Kukulcán is a serpent with feathers.
The pyramid has four sides. On each side, there is a staircase with 91 steps. Four times 91 is 364. There is one more step at the top. So there are 365 steps, one for every day of the year.
At the bottom of the north staircase, there are two big stone serpent heads. Their mouths are open. Twice a year, at the equinox in March and September, something special happens.
On those days, there are crowds of people in front of the pyramid. In the late afternoon, the sun is low. It shines on the west side of the north staircase. Light and shadow make seven triangles there. Together, they look like the long body of a serpent.
Slowly, the serpent seems to move down the steps. Then the last triangle touches the stone head. Now the serpent has a body and a head. For a few minutes, it looks like Kukulcán is coming down from the sky.