UXMAL Light & Sound

This post is a bit behind, I guess with all the activities, I did not have a chance to put it together for you but "mas vale tarde que nunca" (better late than never) so here it is, the visit to Uxmal with pictures and descriptions in Spanish by the Saratoga students.

Uxmal is a beautiful archeological site and a very ancient city of the Mayan world. Most students like Uxmal better than any other archeological site they visit in Yucatan. With less influence from other Meso-American cultures, Uxmal has a unique architectural style known as "Puuc". This style provides the buildings with more baroque decorations. The Rain God "Chaac" was most important for this area and you can see the dedication to this deity by looking at the hundreds of masks representing Chaac through out the site.

Considered a magical city in Mayan mythology, Uxmal was a cultural center, where arts and knowledge flourished over two thousand years ago. Among the Mayan stories related to Uxmal you can find: The Uxmal Dwarf King and Zac-Nicté.

Student Report:

Ayer en Uxmal vimos muchos pirámides. Están muy bonitas e interesantes.

También vimos un espectáculo de Luz y Sonido. La información era muy interesante pero no entendí mucho.

Comimos en un restaurante y yo comí una sopa de pollo y pollo frito con arroz. También tomé una limonada.

Me dormí a las once de la noche y hoy me levanté a las 6:30 de la mañana, estoy muy cansada.

Laila Ghahghahi

A wonderful view of the city of Uxmal, photos taken by Saratoga students.

Saratoga girls take a moment to rest at the foot of a pyramid.

The light an sound show is very impressive, the pyramids at night and the story of princess Zac-Nicté provide the audience with the ambience to transport themselves to ancient times, when the Mayab lived a golden age and Uxmal risen as a political power. According to the legend, Zac-Nicté, princess of Mayapán falls in love with Price Canek, ruler of the Itzaes (Chichen Itza). Zac-Nicté had been given in marriage to the Lord of Uxmal, Prince Ulil.

On their wedding day, Canek breaks into the ceremony with his best warriors, stealing the bride. With his actions a civil war starts in the Maya world, leading to the end of Uxmal and Chichen Itza.

This allegory provides clues to what may have originated the civil war prior to the arrival of the Spanish conquistadors, Mayapan, romantically represented by Zac-Nicte, had become apowerful economic market and brought a new economic order to the area. Chichen Itza, traditionally the most powerful City State, pushed to control this new city, leading to a conflict with the second major power in the area, Uxmal.

By the Spanish arrival, the civil war had already weakened the Mayas and this fact provided better conditions for the conquistadors.