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Chichen Itza Ball Court


Chichen Itza Ball Court
Photo Information
Copyright: Pierre Frigon (PierreFrigon) Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 2338 W: 244 N: 3828] (15457)
Genre: Places
Medium: Color
Date Taken: 2008-03-24
Categories: Daily Life, Nature, Architecture
Camera: Kodak EasyShare Z7590
Photo Version: Original Version, Workshop
Theme(s): Friday Theme 2008/05/09 "Brick/Stone Wall" [view contributor(s)]
Date Submitted: 2008-05-08 10:50
Viewed: 492
Points: 44
[Note Guidelines] Photographer's Note
The Great Ball Court at Chichén Itzá.

Amazing something so old that is still in excellent shape.


The Mayans were great sportsmen and build huge ballcourts to play their games. The Great Ballcourt of Chichén Itzá is 545 feet long and 225 feet wide overall. It has no vault, no discontinuity between the walls and is totally open to the sky.

Each end has a raised "temple" area. A whisper from end can be heard clearly at the other end 500 feet away and through the length and breath of the court. The sound waves are unaffected by wind direction or time of day/night. Archaeologists engaged in the reconstruction noted that the sound transmission became stronger and clearer as they proceeded. In 1931 Leopold Stokowski spent 4 days at the site to determine the acoustic principals that could be applied to an open-air concert theater he was designing. Stokowski failed to learn the secret. To this day it has not been explained.

It is not hard to imagine a Mayan King sitting here presiding over the games. Legends say that the the winning captain would present his head to the losing capitan, who then decapitates him. While this may seem a strange reward, the Mayans believed this to be the ultimate honor.The winning captian getting a direct ticket to heaven instead of going through the 13 steps that the Mayan's believed they had to go through in order to reach heaven. Text: MysteriousPlaces.com

Hello to those of you that are just looking.
And HELLO and THANK YOU VERY MUCH to those of you that take the time to leave critiques/comments/workshops :-).
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Society is a masked ball, where every one hides his real character, and reveals it by hiding.
- Ralph Waldo Emerson

The man who complains about the way the ball bounces is likely the one who dropped it.
- Lou Holtz
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Please, go visit my web site
GreenBaron, mesquens1, mvdisco, shelbeesmom, Janice, teamill, vandana2923, harpya, CallMeMaria, milas, Refugee, lilimih33, puffy, perryhooter has marked this note useful
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Critiques [Translate]

Hi Piet,
You bring back good memories of Chichén Itzá :-) Yes I remember this ball court too...horrible history. Anyway a fine picture of this special place!
Hans

  • Great 
  • lele Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Note Writer [C: 639 W: 3 N: 405] (4792)
  • [2008-05-08 10:54]

ciao pierre....grande soggetto...bellissimo lavor..grande composizione...bel pov...ottimi i colori, complimenti..
lele

Bonsoir Pierre,
Fantastique enregistrement de ce lieu de fêtes.
Admirable composition avec un très beau cadrage.
Merci de partager et felicitations.
Raimundo

Bonjour Pierre,
Belle présentation pour le theme,
excellent point de vue et cliché,
belles couleurs et détails de l'endroit,
bien vue.TFS. Excellent cadre et note.
Michel

  •      
  • Janice Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 3209 W: 225 N: 6904] (27379)
  • [2008-05-08 14:13]

Very interesting photo and notes Pierre - thank you, I have learnt something today. I think I'd rather lose the game, if it meant keeping my head.
TFS
Janice

Allo Pierre!
Ce que j'ai remarqué à première vue, c'est la splendeur du ciel, ensuite la perspective de cette photo et en dernier lieu l'encadrement. Je trouve superbe ce style de cadrage qui mets en valeur ta photo.
Toutes mes félicitations!
France

Hello Pierre

One thing I love about this site is there is so much mroe to learn here than simply photography. an excellent capture here and truly interesting notes too

TFS regards Helen

HI Pierre; very interesting note about the Mayan people, and great shot. Really like the frame too.
Trudy

j'ai fait un WS, j'ai bidouillé un peu ta photo, mais finalement j'en arrive presque au même résultat, du coup c'est pas très utile,
un bel endroit, l'exposition est optimale (ce que je conclue après ma tentative ratée d'améliorer l'image)
amicalement
jo

I like this composition it is so clean and clear. Magnificent, this truly is wonderful shot.
Best wishes,
Achim

Great shot Pierre! Love all of this area...wish'n I could spend more time in the Cenotes down there swimming. It's dang cold this time of year still, but the water is fabulous! Ever been to Xel-Ha ? Love it!!
B-) B-)
Linda

  • Great 
  • harpya Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 5244 W: 181 N: 6228] (32864)
  • [2008-05-09 6:18]

Hi Pierre

Beautiful look of this place.
Nor needs to speak a lot of Chichen Itza.
he already speaks by itself about your beauty.
An excellent frame accompanies this beautiful post!
Congratulations my friend...

Sérgio

Hi Pierre,
Very nice presentation complimented by those amazing clouds.
Wonderful sharpness and colors.
TFS
Regards,
Lurdes

  • Great 
  • milas Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 2163 W: 381 N: 2155] (23154)
  • [2008-05-09 8:10]

Merhaba myfriend Pierre....
Excellent job with beautiful photo, wonderful colors and a very beautiful shot...
Selamlar...
Milas...

Great contribution for the friday theme
Very impressive sight
TFS
Cynthia

Wonderful detail in the walls Pierre and good overall colour. The clouds have been captured nicely and the human presence gives some idea of the dimension of the arena. TFS,
David

Beautiful and interesting picture & place. Gorgeously framed too!
TFS. LuDivine

  • Great 
  • puffy Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 2014 W: 136 N: 3063] (16571)
  • [2008-05-09 23:54]

Hi Pierre,

That's an awesome place to be, but I haven't been yet, it sure have a horrible history... to me it just doesn't seem logic to have the winner to lose his head.. really weird, but I suppose there are more of this kind of story everywhere. Excellent shot, great composition and excellent pov,


Have a great weekend,

Cheers,
Sweety

Hello Pierre!
Lovely picture for Fridays theme!
Nice ambiance!
I like the frame, too!
Best regards!
Lili

...I return... :)

Hello Pierre,
I like this pov, and reading the notes makes it more interesting. TFS
Vandana
later

Yep !


Time does change a lot of things...... Between these walls, many sacrifices were made . They did have strange customs.
But one thing is sure, they were building solid !

Cool note to go along with this touristic snap.
Cheers!
Robert

hello Pierre
Chichen Itza, un site de toute beauté
excellentes couleurs et détails et belle pespective

amitiés

jojo

Pierre

te felicito gran edición

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