The pyramid at Chichén Itzá, known as El Castillo, contains two older pyramids nested inside it like Russian dolls, along with hidden chambers holding a striking red jaguar throne and a reclining stone figure. Beneath it all sits a natural sinkhole filled with water. What looks like a single structure from the outside is actually three layers of construction spanning centuries of Maya civilization.
Three Pyramids in One
El Castillo is not a solid mass of stone. In the 1930s, excavators tunneled into the pyramid and discovered a complete earlier pyramid-temple hidden inside the visible outer structure. Researchers believe this middle pyramid was built sometime between 800 and 1000 CE, before the larger one was constructed over it.
Then in the mid-2010s, archaeologists using noninvasive imaging techniques found yet another, even older pyramid buried within the first two. This smallest and oldest structure was likely built between 550 and 800 CE. It appears to have been simpler than its successors, with a single stairway and an altar. This layering practice was not unique to El Castillo. Archaeologists have found earlier structures entombed within several Mesoamerican pyramids, as builders regularly constructed new temples directly over old ones rather than tearing them down.
The Red Jaguar Throne
When explorers first broke into the inner chambers of the middle pyramid, they found two remarkable objects. The first is a life-sized jaguar throne, carved from stone and painted bright red. Its eyes are made of inlaid jade, and jade spots dot its body, mimicking the pattern of a jaguar’s coat. The throne sits in a small chamber at the top of the interior staircase, in roughly the same position where a ruler or priest would have presided over ceremonies in the original temple.
Nearby, excavators found a Chac Mool, a reclining human figure with its knees drawn up and its head turned to the side, holding a flat dish or plate on its stomach. These figures appear throughout Mesoamerican sites and are thought to have served as altars or offering platforms. Together, the jaguar throne and Chac Mool suggest the inner temple was a place of significant ritual importance before it was sealed inside the newer pyramid.
A Cenote Underneath
Beneath the entire structure lies something the Maya may have considered the most important feature of all: a cenote, one of the natural underground sinkholes common across the Yucatán Peninsula. These limestone cavities fill with groundwater, creating subterranean pools. The Maya regarded cenotes as sacred portals to the underworld, known as Xibalba.
Archaeologists have been searching for tunnels that might connect the pyramid’s interior to this hidden water source below. The discovery supports a broader theory that many of Chichén Itzá’s major buildings were deliberately positioned on top of cenotes, making the pyramid’s location a spiritual choice rather than an engineering coincidence. The presence of a cenote may have been the very reason the Maya chose this spot to build on, beginning with that earliest pyramid in the sixth century and continuing through successive construction phases for hundreds of years.
What It’s All Built From
Three-dimensional electrical imaging of El Castillo’s interior has revealed that the bulk of the pyramid is limestone. The fill material between the outer walls and the inner structures consists of limestone rubble and mortar, a common construction approach across Mesoamerican pyramids. The inner pyramids were coated with limestone blocks, which show up as distinct layers in the imaging data. In some areas, the scans detected zones of poorly consolidated material, likely loose limestone fill used to pack the gaps between the second and third structures when each new layer of construction was added.
The outer pyramid that visitors see today features nine terraced platforms, four staircases, and 365 steps (one for each day of the solar year). But the interior tells a longer story. Each layer of limestone represents a different era of Maya construction, with the oldest core sitting roughly 550 years older than the polished exterior. The pyramid grew outward over centuries, each generation of builders encasing the work of their predecessors rather than erasing it.
Why You Can’t Go Inside
The interior tunnel that once allowed visitors to climb a narrow, humid staircase to view the Red Jaguar throne was closed to the public in 2006. The combination of foot traffic, moisture from visitors’ breath, and vibrations posed a real threat to the structural integrity of the inner chambers and the artifacts inside. Today, the jaguar throne and Chac Mool remain sealed in darkness inside the pyramid, preserved but unseen. Researchers continue to study the interior using imaging technology that can peer through stone without disturbing it, and the cenote below remains unexplored by direct excavation.