Chichen Itza Before the Tourists

Is Chichen Itza authentic? Does it matter?

Chichen Itza is one of Mexico’s top tourist attractions, visited by well over a million people per year. It’s become the most iconic site on the Yucatan Peninsula both because it is the home to remarkable ruins and because it’s close enough to Cancun for a day trip.

Today, the experience of visiting the archaeological site is similar to what you’ll find at many of the world’s most famous ancient ruins. Chichen Itza is an unforgettable place, but it’s crowded with tourists — many of whom seem to have come straight from the beach — and local people trying to sell them things. Many of the tourists there are on the same package-tour circuit: take a van from the resort, hit the ruins for an hour or two, then lunch and a swim in a cenote (a sinkhole filled with water; many of them look really good on Instagram!) before getting back to the hotel for dinner.

These centuries-old ruins are now part of the Yucatan Peninsula’s tourism-industrial complex, which fuels much of the local economy.

But Chichen Itza wasn’t always like this.

Chichen Itza is, for many foreign tourists, the one Mayan ruin they visit on their otherwise beach-focused trip to the Yucatan. But, in many ways, it’s not a typical Mayan site.

First, the city flourished as much of the rest of the Mayan world was in decline. Archaeologists surmise that the peak of Mayan culture happened during the “Classic” period, between about 250 CE and 600 CE. This was a period of relative peace and stability that saw widespread building, impressive art, and large cities like Tikal and Calakmul. Chichen Itza emerged in the so-called “Late Classic” (600–900) period and peaked during the “Postclassic” (900–1200), which were periods of overall decline in most of the Mayan world.

As many of the other Mayan cities declined, Chichen Itza grew to a size of about 50,000 inhabitants and came to exercise power over much of the Yucatan. Archaeologists have found evidence that the city was quite diverse, hosting immigrants and incorporating cultural elements from far away. Though its population and political power started to shrink after 1100 or so, the site was still inhabited when Spanish colonialists showed up in the early 1500s.

Chichen Itza’s residents weren’t willing to cede their ancient, sacred site to invaders — they defeated the first Spanish…