볼코트 (구기장. Ball Court. Gran Juego de Pelota). 치첸잇사(치첸이트사. Chichen Itza)

볼코트 (구기장. 球技場. Ball Court. Gran Juego de Pelota).

치첸잇사(Chichén Itzá). 멕시코(Mexico)

 

Chichen Itza내에 있는 Ballcourt는 165m의 길이이며, Mesoamerica에서 가장 규모가 크다. Ballcourt에서는 Ballgame이라는 경기가 이루어졌는데, 이것은 종교 의식의 의미를 지녔다. 두 팀은 경기장 벽에 높이 달아놓은 링에 고무공을 통과 시키기 위해 상대방과 경쟁을 해야 했는데, 지는 팀은 결국 죽음을 당하게 되었다. Ballcourt는 거의 모든 전-콜롬비아 (Pre-Columbian)유적지에서 발견되며 그 중에서 가장 큰 것이 Chichen Itza의 것이다.

The Mayans were great sportsmen and build huge ballcourts to play all their games. The Great Ballcourt of Chichen Itza is 225 feet wide and 545 feet long overall. It has no vault, no discontinuity between the walls and is totally open to the blue sky.
Each end has a raised to the temple area. A whisper from end can be heard clearly enough at the other end 500 feet far away and through the length and breath of the court.
The sound waves are unaffected by wind direction or time of day and also night. Archaeologists engaged in the reconstruction noted that the sound transmission became more and more strong and clear as they proceeded.
In 1931 Leopold Stokowski spent 4 days at this site to determine the acoustic principals that could be applied to theater for an open-air concert he was designing. Stokowski failed to learn the secret.
Today it has not been explained.
It is easy to imagine a Mayan King sitting here presiding over the games. Legends say that the winning Capitan would present his own head to the losing Capitan, who then decapitates him. While this may seem very strange reward, the Mayans believed that this to be the ultimate honor.
The winning Capitan getting a direct ticket for heaven instead of going through the 13 high steps that the Mayan's believed they had to go through in order to reach peaceful heaven..

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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