Sayil

Sayil is an archaeological site of the Maya in Mexico near the Mayan ruins of Uxmal Labná and on the main road 261 One finds there a palace, several temples and steles and a ball court. Sayil is very spacious and you can spend the whole day to go and miles of trails to explore the ruined city. In its heyday, around 800 AD, lived in this city about 7,000 to 9,000 residents. The name " Sayil " is probably old, since it is mentioned Balam Book of Chilam in Chumayel. He is said to mean "place of the ant " or " ant hill ".

History of Research

Was rediscovered by John Lloyd Stephens Sayil and Frederick Catherwood in 1842. A later visitor was in 1886 Teobert painter. A thorough inspection of the building dates from Harry ED Pollock .. A modern settlement with comprehensive mapping study made ​​a big project under Jeremy Sabloff. Compared with other major Mayan cities relatively little restoration work has been done in Sayil, which is strictly limited to the Grand Palace.

The great palace (El Palacio )

The Grand Palace is probably the most compact building of the Maya in the northern Yucatán. It has 94 rooms on three floors. The palace was obviously built for a continuous -compliance with plan in a largely symmetrical shape. It has been studied and consolidated only in parts of its Südfasse by excavations.

The palace was built involving at least one smaller previous building. This is a dreiräumigen construction with one of two pillared entrance means. On these, a wing with four rooms was added to the west, starting with an input with a center column. To preserve the symmetry also has the third space on an entrance with two columns. Behind the first two rooms are two smaller rooms a second series, of which a passage leads to a third. Behind the rooms is a narrow, later sealed passage whose function is unclear. Behind the rooms a half vault is visible, which must have belonged to a later demonierten early building. The facade has been preserved only in small portions, the wall stones are set large and irregular. The door bars are made ​​of stone and lie when columns are available on capitals. The middle cornice consists of a wide smooth band that must be jumped over the entrances with columns for technical reasons (even if these parts are not preserved). The upper panel seems to have taken great stone mosaic, the upper cornice, which can be seen on the staircase that partially covers the facade, was dreigliederig. For this first part of the palace is the Early assign Puuc style. The remaining parts of the ground floor were probably erected in a building phase. It is in the west of a slightly over the actual Baur twill projecting cross wing with 6 rooms, a north wing with four and six rooms, which are separated by a staircase, an east wing with five inputs not evenly distributed, which in a complex designed sequence of eight rooms lead. The south-east wing is kept simple with five rooms. The uniformity of this construction phase can be inferred from the facade design and the masonry. The base has only a smooth element, the lower wall surface usually large and well cut stones in not always regular rows. The middle cornice consists of three bands: the usual outward projecting bathroom, a slightly sunken with a continuous series of small columns low and about an even lower smooth belt. The upper panel shows the maximum decor Säulchenstils: a continuous series of small columns having binding element in the middle. the upper cornice of the mean, except that over the projecting upward and forward statements are identified from large stones.

The first floor is arranged on the south side outward symmetrically on both sides of the stairs. There will be four inputs with two columns supporting capitals. The eastern part is largely collapsed, get awarded the western part, the eastern part was probably the same design. Behind the rooms is each another room. A peculiar constructive element are two small doors on each of the two sides, which open into long, partially backfilled with gravel courses leading towards the interior of the building. Their further development and function have not been studied. The facade is decorated: About a dreigliederigen base medium Säulchenband follows the center panel, which is covered on the southwestern section of the façade full of small columns, the top show in the middle and bottom of the binding motif. The middle cornice is viergliederig: above the projecting lower band a continuous Säulchenband, then another smooth belt and about cantilevered in the opposite direction band. The upper panel is consistently decorated with small columns. There is a large mask of Chac God between the average wall panel. It is no longer possible to determine whether there has not been a cascade of two masks. To one side is repeated twice, the motif of cascading nature, framed by two dragon-like creature with a wide open mouth. The west facade was designed similar, except that the lower wall surface is mostly smooth, interrupted by groups of three small columns identical to the little columns on the south facade. About the middle entrance to a large Chac mask. The spatial structure of this page is remarkable that a north of the Mediterranean area lying longitudinal space that was originally entered from the behind the entrance room space, got a new entrance, which was roughly broken into the façade, while the original account has been closed. The north side had five simple inputs to both sides of a divided two-column input in the middle. Except for the corner rooms, these rooms were probably filled and bricked in preparation of the second floor with rubble. The construction of a staircase to the roof level has been started but not completed. The east side is poorly preserved. The facade design corresponded to the west side.

The second floor consists of only a single row of seven rooms, which is prefixed before the middle is another room. It is striking that the two corner rooms additionally have an additional input on the narrow side. The facade of this floor is kept simple. Base with three elements, smooth wall surface, dreigliederiges mid cornice, upper wall surface smooth with decorative above the entrances, about a dreigliederiges cornice. The inputs shown on wooden door beams. Since the wall surfaces were not preserved above the inputs, the reconstruction at this point is hypothetically derived from a few residues to the third input of the west: from smooth wall surfaces, which were continued over the roof level in upward direction, towered stone cones, which probably contributed stone sculptures and held.

The cultivation in the southwest on the ground level is later added. Its façade, which has been preserved only in the inner corner, and corresponds to the back of the palace, assigns it to the Säulchenstil.

El Mirador

The El Mirador is located approximately 300 m south of the palace. It is actually not a temple, as in the of Labná, but a small building on a low base, which has collapsed in half.

South Palace ( Palacio del Sur )

The South Palace is situated about 800 m south of the great palace of the ancient Mayan site. It is a large building in Säulchenstil the Puuc architecture with four sides that are arranged around a solid core of stone and rubble, on the later a second floor was built, or should be. This part is almost completely disintegrated today is so not decide whether he was ever completed. Contradicted by the fact that a staircase to the second floor does not exist. Nearby is a large ball court and the stelae platform.

Ball Court ( Juego de Pelota )

The Great Ball Court is located near the northeast corner of the southern palace. On it the famous Mesoamerican ball game was played. The ball court is not exposed and not officially available.

Stelae platform ( Grupo de Estela )

In Sayil as in other places in the Puuc region stelae were usually not set up ( the stairs ) important buildings before, but were assembled on a separate platform. This platform is in Sayil near the ball court. The steles of Sayil unfortunately are no longer in good condition, they have now been re- erected near the entrance. On one of the pillars 810 AD is pointed in hieroglyphics on the year.

Mountain group

Opposite the entrance on the other side of the road is a narrow and very steep path to a group of buildings that are attributable to an early form of Säulchenstils. Only one of the parts of the building, which is based on the top of the hill, is still well preserved. Characteristic is the inwardly sloping upper part of the outer wall, the results from the middle cornice. The base has only a simple band; as the upper cornice was probably designed. The lower as the upper wall surface have smooth games that are provided by groups of three small columns with multiple, differently configured offsets. From the mean Säulchengruppe the upper wall of a man's head stands out. Right from the resultant led a now completely destroyed stairs on the platform above the building; further to the right were other rooms, which are also no longer obtain.

Other buildings

In Sayil there are relatively many buildings in the early stages of the Puuc style. Like most other buildings carry no name but a numeric code which refers to the quadrant of the 1940 Create by E. Shook overall plan. Southeast of the Great Palace, the Proto - Puuc attributable building 2C4 lies with multiple entrance into a room and raw belassener, once certainly disguised with stucco ornaments upper facade half. A typical building of the Early Puuc style is 1B2, south-east of the Mirador located. There is no real middle cornice present, the upper cornice is carried out crudely from large wall stones. It's just more of a space obtained, the building is not officially available.