A German tourist was arrested and attacked by locals after he illegally scaled the side of the Temple of Kukulcan in Yucatan, Mexico — a popular landmark at spring equinox that has been named a UNESCO World Heritage site and is known as one of the New Seven Wonders of the World.

A German tourist was arrested and attacked by locals after he illegally scaled the side of the Temple of Kukulcan in Yucatan, Mexico — a popular landmark at spring equinox that has been named a UNESCO World Heritage site and is known as one of the New Seven Wonders of the World.

Archived version: https://archive.is/newest/https://people.com/tourist-attacked-by-locals-after-climbing-forbidden-mayan-temple-mexico-11701730

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  • EchoCranium@lemmy.zipEnglish
    49·
    2 days ago

    I’ve been to the top of this temple, back in the mid 90’s when people were still allowed to go up. Banning climbing was certainly necessary, you could see that all the traffic was eroding the stairs back then. Dangerous descent too. The climb wasn’t bad, but coming back down those steep narrow steps made me take my time. Slipping and tumbling to the bottom could easily be deadly, and I wasn’t looking to become another sacrifice to the gods.

    • AmazingAwesomator@lemmy.world
      10·
      2 days ago

      i got to climb kukulkan at chichen iza and… i forget the temple name at uxmal (and also go into the tulum ruins… though there isnt a tall temple like this there) back in the 90’s as well - i agree that it really took its toll on the ruins, but also have to say looking off the top of them was incredible.

      i can remember people having picnics half way up kukulkan and some using it for running exercise up-and-down the steps.

      • EchoCranium@lemmy.zipEnglish
        3·
        2 days ago

        The view definitely was really great. Only a small portion of the ruins had been uncovered that tourists like myself could walk through, but from up on the temple you could see an expanse of other buildings poking up out of the jungle. Chichen Itza was a huge city; the view made me wish I could go back in time to walk around to see everything as it had been before the jungle reclaimed it.

    • Doom@ttrpg.network
      2·
      2 days ago

      I wonder if they built some structure on top of the stone to make getting up and down easier or what?

      Is there a reason the stairs are so steep?

      • 🇰 🌀 🇱 🇦 🇳 🇦 🇰 🇮 @pawb.socialEnglish
        2·
        2 days ago

        Is there a reason the stairs are so steep?

        People who built it were just thrilled they could make something that big, they probably didn’t think too hard about how hard it would be to go up and down. 🤷🏻‍♂️