If you’re planning a visit to Chichn Itz, chances are you’ve already got a long list of sights to check out. No doubt, between researching on your own and taking the advice of friends or acquaintances who’ve been themselves, you’ll have found you need a notepad to record all the features, buildings, sculptures, and courtyards with some special historical significance, like the great pyramid El Castillo or the stunning Great Ballcourt. The wonders of Chichn Itz are many and multifaceted, so much so that even travelers who’ve made multiple trips often overlook the diminutive but fascinating features on this list.

Chichn Itz was one of the Mayan civilization’s most important cities. From the time of its establishment, around 600 AD, up through the apex of Mayan rule over the Yucatn peninsula, the city stood as a shining example of their culture’s ingenuity, diversity, and power. It was, therefore, a natural religious center for the Mayan empire as well, and at least during parts of its evolutionary cycle, human sacrifice was one of the rites and rituals practiced there. For this purpose alone, a sacred cenote was vouchsafed on the northern fringes of Chichn Itz; the hole left by the collapse of an underground cave’s roof, which then filled with water, this cenote became the grave for untold numbers of citizens and slaves throughout the long years of Mayan domination over Mesoamerica.