Athena Review Image Archive ™
Izamal, Yucatán: Sketch of Main Plaza by Landa (1566)
Landa's sketch of the Main Plaza at Izamal (Landa 1566).
Diego
de Landa (1524-1579) came to Yucatán in 1549, and by 1561 became the
Franciscan Provincial director. He recorded many details of the Maya
culture through two of his native informants, Gaspar Antonio Chi and
Nachi Cocom, including a syllabus of Maya glyphs which became key to
their eventual 20th c. decipherment.
Among the sites in Yucatán he visited and described in his book Relacion de las Cosas de Yucatán
was Izamal. This was a Maya provincial capital during the Late
Postclassic and also an important center of the cult of Kinich Ahau and
Itzamná during the Classic period.
Landa's sketch of the terraced town center, preserved in the Relacion, shows a temple and "very large and beautiful plaza" at the top of a steep stairway,with a chapel. This may have been the site of the Late Postclassic temple to Chac, the rain god, which was removed to build a monastery.
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