The ancient city of Chichén Itzá is in Mexico, on the Yucatán Peninsula.
Chichén Itzá was a major pre-Columbian Maya city in what is now the Mexican state of Yucatán. Its name is commonly translated as “at the mouth of the well of the Itzá,” referring to the region’s sacred cenotes, or limestone sinkholes, and the Itzá people. The city flourished especially from roughly AD 800 to 1200 and became an important political and ceremonial center in the northern Maya lowlands.
Its most famous monument is the Temple of Kukulcán, also called El Castillo. The site also includes the Great Ball Court, the Temple of the Warriors and the Sacred Cenote. The architecture combines Maya traditions with influences associated with central Mexico, reflecting the city’s broad cultural connections.
UNESCO added Chichén Itzá to the World Heritage List in 1988. It is sometimes mistakenly linked to Guatemala or Belize because Maya civilization extended across several modern countries, but the archaeological site itself is entirely in Mexico.