Chicanná

Structure II. This building closes the principal plaza to the east, the most important cardinal point in the Maya vision of the universe, as it alludes to the place where the sun, which was very much worshipped in ancient times, is reborn daily.

It is built on a small artificially levelled area and has only one storey. Inside there are remains of eight rooms: three to front and five to the rear, all roofed over with the Maya arch. The rooms have benches for resting and staying the night. The building was the house of an official of the hierarchy. Probably the centre room was used for religious ceremonies.

The remains of a roof comb were found on the upper centre part. This gave grandeur to the building as they modelled images of important personages as well as some gods there. The decoration of the facade is one of the most complete and best preserved representations of Itzamná. It resembles a great face with an open mouth; the entrance doorway represents entrance into the buccal [relating to the cheek] cavity and symbolically indicates the introduction to the entrails of the powerful god. On the facade of the rooms located to the sides one can appreciate the representation of the traditional Maya home: houses with roofs and walls made of palm and wood.

From the site information board.