Mayapan covers approximately 4 square kilometers and belongs to what is known as the Decadent Style. As most Maya cities it contains one central plaza in which the main parts of the cities are located. One special feature is the main buildings are delimitated by a wall, a clear hint of the unstable situation of that Mayan period at that time. Due to the quantity of structures it is now thought the city had a population of 12,000 inhabitants.
Mayapan was the most important center of the Maya culture in the period preceding the arrival of the Spanish after it helped in the demise of Chichen Itza. (1250 - 1450 C.E.). According to legends, Mayapan was founded by Kukulcan who also
had a formidable influence on Chichen Itza. The native chronicles tell us Mayapan, Uxmal and Chichen Itza formed a political alliance know as the Mayapan League. It is known that Mayapan used this league and other allies from the west to destroy Chichen Itza. It to fell into abandonment before the arrival of the Spanish. The Maya had returned to living in the jungles in small communities as they began with no more major cultural sites.
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