El Caracol, Chichen Itza facts for kids
El Caracol, also known as the Observatory, is a very special building at the ancient Maya civilization site of Chichen Itza. The name El Caracol means 'snail' in Spanish. It got this name because it has a spiral staircase inside, just like a snail's shell!
What is El Caracol?
This amazing building was built around the year 906 AD. This was during a time called the Post Classic period in Mesoamerica. Experts believe El Caracol was an ancient Mayan observatory. An observatory is a place where people watch the sky and stars.
The land around Chichen Itza, on the Yucatán Peninsula, is very flat. There are no big mountains or hills to help people see the sky clearly. El Caracol was built tall so Mayan astronomers could watch the sky without anything blocking their view.
How Did Mayans Use El Caracol to Watch the Sky?
The Mayan people were very smart astronomers. They studied the sky just by looking at it! They knew that the planet Venus appeared and disappeared at different times of the year. They also knew it took 584 days for Venus to complete one full cycle in the sky.
They even figured out that five of these Venus cycles were equal to eight solar years. This meant Venus would appear in the same northern or southern spots in the sky every eight years.
Scientists have found that El Caracol has special viewing lines. These lines point to about 20 different important events in the sky. These events include things like equinoxes (when day and night are equal) and solstices (the longest or shortest day of the year). Part of the tower is now gone, so we might never know all the sky events the Mayans observed from El Caracol.
See also
In Spanish: El Caracol (arquitectura) para niños
