The Pyramid of the Magician in Uxmal, Mexico, is an ancient Mayan pyramid. It is also known as the House of the Dwarf or Pyramid of the Soothsayer. It is about 115 ft. tall, and its base is 227 by 162 feet. It is the tallest structure in the Pre-Columbian city of Uxmal. It is very recognizable because of its unique shape.
It was built between 600-1000 AD by the Mayans in five stages. Each stage was built on top of the past one. The first stage, called Temple I, was built around 600 AD. It is decorated with statues of the rain god Chaac. The temple was added on to for four centuries, and what we see today is called Temple V. It is very decorated and is very impressive. There are two sets of stairs, one set going up the East side of the pyramid, and another smaller set going up the West side. Tourists can no longer climb on the pyramid, which prohibits people to see some of the temples that aren’t visible from the outside.
There are a few different versions of how the temple was build. One legend is that a magician god named Itzamna singlehandedly built the whole pyramid in one night using his magic. Another legend is that a dwarf, hatched from an egg and the child of a witch, was given a challenge by the king to build a house that was taller than any other house in the city in one night. When the people woke up the next morning, they saw a huge pyramid. The king was very mad, and he made the dwarf complete more challenges. The dwarf completed all of them and was crowned king.
The first record of the rediscovery of the pyramid was in 1838 and was published by Jean-Frederick Waldeck. In 1839, John Lloyd Stephens made many visits to the pyramid in order to record and sketch the layout of the pyramid. He published his book called Incidents of Travel in the Yucatan to document the pyramid. Restorations have been made from the mid-19th century on, and a renewed effort was started in 1970 to restore the pyramid to its former glory. In 1988, Hurricane Gilbert caused a lot of damage to the pyramid, and archeologists had to take immediate measures to keep the pyramid from collapsing.
The Pyramid of the Magician was magnificent structure. It is said to have had different colored plaster on the exterior, a different color for each direction. It has detailed sculptures of the rain god all over it. It is now the central attraction of Uxmal, and it has many modern facilities around it. It would be a very interesting place to visit someday.
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