Go to page: Detail of the House of the Governor. This high and elegant biconvex Maya arch once allowed passage through the building but was walled up in ancient times, turning it almost into a closed chamber for reasons unknown. The masonry walls that nowadays form the "entrance" and front walls to this pseudo-chamber give it a very arrow-like appearance. Go to page: South end of the eastern building in the Nunnery. Notice the lattice-like stone mosaic that simulates a woven surface on the building's upper frieze. On the woven pattern sit eight bicephalic snakes which are progressively shorter, forming a trapezoid geometric shape. The corner of the building displays the familiar stack of deity masks. What make this building a tour de force of Puuc architecture, however, are its clean lines, the play of light and shadow created by its double threshold doors, and the pleasing contrast between the ornamented upper frieze and the plain lower wall, framed from below by the regularity of its base of junquillos (small stone cylinders). Go to page: This unusual structure is one of two once very similar structures that flank the stairway leading up to the main northern building at the Nunnery. Its frieze presents some common Puuc motifs, including geometric mosaicwork, angled upper and lower cornices, and deity masks at the corners. Access to its inner chambers is through a very wide space, although the large span is divided into five doorways by means of four columns with geometric carvings that visually lighten their volume and make them more appealing through the play of light and shadow. Go to page: The western stairs of the Pyramid of the Magician are among the steepest in the Maya world and lead up to the gaping mouth of a monster-mask temple (known as Temple IV), more typical of the Chenes and Río Bec regions in the neighboring state of Campeche. This temple may have once crowned the top of the pyramid but, for some reason, rather than be buried by later expansions as was customary, this temple was kept visible, even as the pyramid continued to grow, eventually becoming capped by a larger, purely Puuc temple that sits above and behind this earlier temple. Go to page: Hook-nosed deity masks flank the western stairway of the Pyramid of the Magician. This kind of mask is common to the point of omnipresence in the Maya northern lowlands. They have been variously identified as "masks of Chaak" (the Maya rain deity), "masks of Itzamnah" (the principal deity in the Maya pantheon), serpent masks, and as diagnostic features that identify buildings as symbolic "mountains." Go to page: The Pyramid of the Magician started out as a "palace"-type building, as can be seen in this detail, which shows the ornamented wall and cornice, as well as a doorway of this structure's oldest construction phase. Up and to the left, the stack of deity masks that flank the pyramid's western stairs can be seen, as can the uppermost temple of the pyramid, which crowns the latest phase of construction more than 30 meters above the old buildings. Go to page: View of the oldest construction phase in the Pyramid of the Magician. In the foreground lies a stone sculpted as the hook-nose of one of the many deity masks that can be seen almost throughout the northern lowlands. This particular stone was recovered from the archaeological excavations of the building, although its original position has not yet been determined. Go to page: Looking west from atop the Pyramid of the Magician, there is a very good view of the quadrangular Nunnery. Much has been made of possible cosmological associations with the numbers of doors in these buildings and the different levels at which the buildings themselves were constructed. While symbolic associations cannot be discarded out of hand, it is also almost impossible to prove what the numerological intent (if any) for these features may have been. It seems logical, however, to assume that this space was reserved for use by the highest elite, be it for ceremonial, administrative, or civic activities. Go to page: Looking east across the Nunnery, the eye meets the gracious façade of the Nunnery's eastern building. This structure is full of architectural subtleties, some of which are: a larger central doorway, underscored by the uneven spacing of the four remaining accesses; receded thresholds that frame and lend movement to otherwise black doorway openings; and the elegant geometry attained by its deceptively simple sculpted frieze, which is further reinforced by a plain lower wall. The heaviness of the lower wall is broken by the uneven but pleasing spacing of the doorways and by the fact that it rests on a base of junquillos, elevated by a wide set of stairs. In the back looms the complex pyramid-temple popularly known as the Pyramid of the Magician. Go to page: Built atop an artificial platform of truly gigantic proportions rises what many have considered to be the most harmonious example of Maya architecture: the building popularly known as House of the Governor. The large, phallic stone in the foreground is a common feature in the center of many an important open space. This (like other examples of similar monuments) is now known by the Spanish name of la picota or "whipping stone", although its actual purpose remains unknown. Go to page: A detail of the southern end of the House of the Governor allows closer examination of its mosaic frieze: extensive geometric scrollwork, stacks of deity masks, and X-marked stones that alternate between use as background and foreground elements. The lower cornice simulates a band tightly tying a softer material, while serpentine motifs mark the upper cornice. Go to page: Detail, southern end of the House of the Governor. Though to modern eyes the abstract scrollwork and geometric play of stone mosaics would seem only a decorative motif, to Maya societies, both ancient and modern, ornamentation is seldom without symbolic value. The shapes on the House of the Governor's frieze, masterfully rendered so as to maximize the play of light and shadow, were probably part of a complex iconography that communicated information as to the use or associations of this grand building. Go to page: Looking north from the platform of the House of the Governor, a visitor's sightline would go through the parallel structures of Uxmal's ballcourt (notice on the left the playing ring reset by archaeologists on the western structure), through the arch that allows access into the Nunnery's inner court by way of its southern building, and on to the imposing two-story northern building. To the left, the intricate frieze of the Nunnery's western building can be barely made out. Go to page: Detail of the southern façade of the Nunnery's southern building. To approach this complex, which was probably off-limits to all but the highest status people of Uxmal, one has to ascend a stairway of broad steps. An elegant access arch, which pierces the building from side to side, still affords access to the inner court. This southern building probably served two distinct functions, as it has rooms opening both to the inside and to the outside of the quadrangle: those opening on the inner court would have presumably been used to deal with affairs restricted to the few, while the rooms in its outer façade may have been used for dealing with a broader public. Go to page: Detail of the southern façade of the Nunnery's northern building. This is easily the grandest building of the Nunnery complex. At court level, it has two small but stately structures flanking a broad stairway that raises the main building high over the level of the other three that form the quadrangle. The Northern building once displayed seven flying façades projecting over the level of the upper cornice. These façades were composed of elaborate stacks of deity masks. Currently only three of these flying façades survive on the building's western wing, but they are of great help in visualizing the impression the whole complex must have once produced. Go to page: The omnipresent stack of deity masks marks the southern end of the Nunnery's west building. Its frieze displays scrollwork and other motifs that recall the frieze at the House of the Governor. While not easily visible from this angle, two intertwining stone serpents wind through much of the scrollwork, up to the upper cornice, down behind stone masks and along the lower cornice before disgorging a human head (see photo #18), in a motif seen elsewhere in the Maya area in relation to the conjuring of deities and ancestors. This might be an indication as to the original function of the building, where rites of conjuring and divination may have once taken place. Go to page: A recurring motif in both the northern and southern buildings of the Nunnery is the Maya hut. While an argument has been made to explain the presence of these humble dwellings in such important civic architecture as an acknowledgment of the importance of peasant labor in ancient Maya society, the fact that these representations of huts are roofed not with thatch but with several types of bicephalic serpents would appear to point to the fact that these are special, perhaps magical or otherworldly huts, not to be confused with ordinary dwellings. Go to page: Detail, Nunnery west building. Rising from the lower cornice, a serpent opens its maw to emit either a human or some deity, in a scene evocative of the conjuring rituals depicted on many of the lintels from the site of Yaxchilan. Somewhat above this scene, the rattle of a rattlesnake marks the place where a second snake begins winding through much of this ornate frieze, to end in a similar disgorging scene at the opposite (south) end of this building. Go to page: Looking south from the top of the Pyramid of the Magician, a number of important Uxmal structures can be identified: in the lower right, the eastern structure of the ballcourt; occupying most of the middle ground, although half covered by trees, the enormous artificial platform on which were built the House of the Turtles (to the right) and the House of the Governor (upper left); immediately to the right of this latter structure, the partially excavated Great Pyramid, while to its right stands the jagged profile of the Dovecote. Go to page: Viewed from the vantage point of a structure popularly known as the House of the Old Woman, the House of the Governor can be seen here in all its magnificence against a background of rolling clouds. The intricate relief motifs on its immense frieze (which is over 100 yards long) can best be appreciated shortly before noon, when the raking sunlight brings out all the relief of the stone mosaic. The iconography on this obviously important building (which Frederick Catherwood once declared to be the most beautifully proportioned in all of the Maya area) may have once conveyed information about the building's function. The whole structure (as indeed all Maya architecture) was once plastered and painted over in bright colors. Go to page: The elegant shape of the Maya corbel vault that allows passage in and out of the Nunnery through its southern structure frames this late afternoon view of the southern portion of the city's civic core. The current path goes through the ballcourt until it reaches the large platform on which sit the House of the Turtles and the House of the Governor. In this view, the three structures that close the sightline are, from left to right, the House of the Governor (seen obliquely from the north), the House of the Turtles, and the northern façade of the Great Pyramid. Go to page: After a light afternoon rain, the sky opens up affording a limpid view of the Nunnery's eastern building with the Pyramid of the Magician looming behind it. The stairs in the foreground lead up to the majestic northern building of the Nunnery, which cannot be seen in this view. Notice the stela at the foot of the stairs. Go to page: Framed between two ruined buildings, a detail of the back of the Nunnery's eastern building. Despite the fact that this would not have been the public or ceremonial side of the building, the elegant Puuc style is still closely adhered to: the sober geometry of the frieze's sculpted mosaic, alternating with smooth panels, is set off by a blank lower wall that is nevertheless lightened by the use of junquillos (small, drum-like stones) on the cornice that separates the frieze from the wall. Go to page: The Nunnery's southern building (on the left) joins the western building, raised upon a low platform that is reached by means of a broad stairway. As noted, the sculpted motifs on the Nunnery's western building resemble the program at the House of the Governor, although it incorporates the theme of snakes disgorging historical or mythical characters (of possible conjuring associations), which the latter does not. Of all the four buildings forming the Nunnery Quadrangle, the southern one is the only one not raised upon a platform. On the other hand, it is the only one of the four that affords direct access into the inner court. Go to page: The extreme oblique angle of this view forces the lines of perspective of the House of the Governor to converge sharply, leading the eye directly towards the distant Pyramid of the Magician. In the foreground, note how the sculpted frieze (including a stack of deity masks at the corner), with its complex play of light, shadow, and volume, contrasts sharply with the plain lower wall of the edifice, which is nevertheless framed and lightened by its plinth of junquillos and by the fact that the medial cornice overhangs the wall, lending movement to an otherwise plain surface. Go to page: In this view of the Nunnery Quadrangle, taken from atop the Pyramid of the Magician, the flatness of the Yucatecan landscape extends beyond the ancient city. Notice the foreground, littered with the ruined remnants of buildings that once framed another quadrangular space which the Pyramid of the Magician itself was once part of. Go to page: Detail of the largely geometric sculptural program on the frieze of the House of the Governor. Elsewhere in Mesoamerica (most notably at Tajín, in the State of Veracruz), this kind of scroll has been interpreted as a reference to rain and hurricanes. Given the large amount of foreign influence detectable in later centuries in the Maya area, particularly in the Yucatan, it is not impossible that this motif had a similar interpretation at Uxmal. Go to page: Although not identical, the motifs on the Nunnery's western building recall the themes to be found in the frieze of the House of the Governor. Whether the differences between the two may have underlined a difference in function or whether their similarities make reference to the same use one can only speculate at this point. Go to page: Partial view of the Nunnery's northern building. The building in the foreground is one of two almost identical buildings that flank the grand stairway leading to the upper structure. This latter building's complex frieze, when complete, would have originally had seven flying façades, of which only three have survived. Go to page: Detail of the Nunnery's western building. Slightly to the center of the image, notice how the bodies of two serpents intertwine, forming a braid-like vertical line, before separating and heading towards opposite ends of the building to disgorge images of either ancestors or deities. Although gone today, above the central doorway of the building (left in this view) sat a dignitary, probably a ruler, displaying a magnificent headdress made of long quetzal feathers, part of which can still be made out. Go to page: Another partial view of the Nunnery's western building. Notice how the double or receded thresholds add interest to what would have otherwise been just black gaping doorways. Go to page: In the foreground, the overgrown grass reveals the remnants of half-collapsed vaulted rooms. The curious jagged construction that cuts across this view's upper half is known as the Dovecote, for its imagined resemblance to a building with pigeonholes for nesting doves. In reality, it was once a massive and charming roofcomb or crestería that graced a long range building that was part of yet another quadrangular space, a prevalent arrangement at Uxmal. Go to page: Another angle of the ruined Dovecote, standing as in defiance of the elements against a threatening mass of stormclouds. Go to page: Looking northeast from the House of the Turtles, the line of view is cut by the massive Pyramid of the Magician. Its rounded edges and curious profile, where two temples prominently stand at different heights on its western façade, is rather unique. Archaeologists have in fact located five different temples in the Pyramid of the Magician. They mark successive building phases in this massive pyramid, which did not even start out as a pyramid/temple, but as a range-type palace that once formed part of a quadrangle arrangement. Go to page: View of the House of the Governor from the northern edge of the massive artificial platform that supports it and also provides an open plaza in front of it. The building itself stretches majestically across the horizon, sitting on yet two additional platforms. As can be seen, this building was divided in three sections, with the two flanking, smaller ones originally separated from the central construction by very tall biconvex Maya vaults that once allowed full passage but which were subsequently walled up. The use of this imposing multi-room and obviously important edifice remains unknown. At its foot, archaeologists have located the beginning of a long (18 km) sacbe (ancient Maya road) leading all the way to Kabah and going through the sites of Chetulix and Nohpat. The House of the Governor is oriented towards the general direction followed by this road, which must have once played an important political and/or economical role in the region. Go to page: The structure popularly known as the Dovecote seems oddly out of place now, its architectural context all but swallowed by the surrounding jungle. It once was an elegant roofcomb that crowned a long range-type building. It also marked the southern boundary of yet another quadrangular court at the back of the House of the Governor. In the background, the flat Yucatecan horizon extends uninterrupted as far as the eye can see. Go to page: Gazing northward from the Great Pyramid, one can see a part of the House of the Governor (to the right), the House of the Turtles (center), the Pyramid of the Magician (immediately to the right of the former), and the Nunnery (to the left). Go to page: Southern façade of the House of the Turtles. This small building has always charmed visitors with its elegantly simple ornamentation but subtly pleasing proportions. Its junquillo-ornamented frieze, framed between two geometric cornices, is narrower than the plain lower wall but balances the whole very well. The name House of the Turtles stems from the fact that stone effigy turtles go around all the upper cornice of the building. Turtles were important symbols in Mesoamerica. For example, the Earth's crust was believed to be a huge turtle carapace. Also, the three stars at the belt of our constellation Orion were believed to form a turtle. Additionally, turtles were associated with water and therefore the Underworld. What the effigy turtles in this particular context once meant we will probably never know, but it seems reasonable to think that their presence in this building would have conveyed information about the building's use. Go to page: Easily missed because they are visually overpowered by the dazzling buildings they support, the artificial platforms built by the Maya to elevate their constructions or to level the ground can neverthless be seen as astounding building feats in their own right. The massive platform seen here under the House of the Governor is in its turn dwarfed by the platform on which the whole arrangement sits. All in all, some 360,000 cubic meters of stone were used for the purpose of visually setting off this all-important construction.

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