Altar Stone (Adoratorio de la Picota)

On the esplanade in front of the Governor's Palace, there are two very interesting monuments. The first consists of a square foundation, in the center of which is a monolith in the shape of a truncated cone, which apparently was covered with stucco, and symbolic ornamental motifs and hieroglyphs were applied on the flattened part. It is also known as the pillory, but this is simply another Spanish name; it may also be a simplified version of the central world tree, Kaba Yaxche, mentioned in Maya mythology. Everything seems to indicate that the construction of the adoratorium took place simultaneously with the erection of the Governor's Palace. The altar stone is a monolithic phallic-shaped stone protruding from a square stone base, although in reality it represents the trunk of the ceiba, the sacred Maya tree connecting the underworld with the earthly world. According to local guides, this was once a large sacrificial stone in the shape of a phallus, which the Spaniards broke and toppled, considering it a devilish altar. During sacred rituals, the indigenous people pierced their genitals with sharp cactus needles, tying them to this stone, and the blood sprinkled the altar.