Chichén Itzá, Yuc., Mexico
The Sacred Cenote is not suitable for swimming; its diameter is 60 meters, the water is located 15 meters below the surface, it is completely open, and therefore it contains a lot of underwater vegetation. The cenote still holds incredible stories; in 1998, UNESCO declared it a World Heritage Site. It is connected to the most famous building of Chichen Itza—the Kukulkan Pyramid—by a 300-meter-long road.
The Maya who inhabited the area used it for religious sacrifices as a tribute to their gods. Additionally, during rituals, they also threw clay vessels and jewelry to the bottom. On its shore, a platform still remains, from which it is believed that girls were thrown into the water.
For many years, the Sacred Cenote was subjected to looting. The first excavations were led by Edward H. Thompson, then the U.S. consul, funded by the Peabody Museum of Harvard University and private collectors from Boston. As a result, excavations were carried out over many years to extract vessels, human bones, jade, copper ornaments, and other materials. This continued from 1904 to 1914, when the chaos of the Mexican Revolution unintentionally put an end to the looting of Chichen Itza. To date, more than 200 bodies, precious stones, ceramics, and gold items have been found during archaeological excavations in the cenote. The Sacred Cenote is one of the cenotes where the greatest number of tributes and sacrifices were made.
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