Athena Review Image Archive ™
Chichén Itzá: The Nunnery Complex
Catherwood's drawing of the Nunnery Complex (Stephens & Catherwood 1843)
The largest architectural feature in the Late Classic zone of Chichén Itzá (AD 600-950) is the Nunnery complex (Las Monjas). Its main portion consists of a series of vaulted rooms seated on a 10 meter-high platform mound.
Catherwood's drawing from 1841 shows the central stairway on the north face leading to the first and second plaforms. Some of the rooms had painted interior walls, and many of the doorway lintels have well-preserved carved hieroglyphs. Next to the Puuc-style Monjas facade at the east end of the Nunnery Complex (at left in the drawing) is the Iglesia.
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