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Edzná: Five-level Pyramid

Overlooking the Great Acropolis at Edzná is the Five Level Pyramid, a Late Classic structure with a cemented rubble core and Puuc-style limestone facing. Rising 30.5 m,  the Cinco Pisos is topped by a temple with a roof-comb. The first level, built of solid masonry 61 m square, has six doorways with cemented pillars in the Río Bec style, and a seventh recessed into the staircase. On the second level, seven doorways (one under the staircase) lead to four sets of double chambers, while on the third level, four portals each enter a single room. The fourth level has two rooms, each gained through a wide doorway with a round Puuc-style column.  The temple on the fifth level is reached by the main stairway, with three doorways opening into a long outer room backed by an inner chamber with two side rooms. The outer temple façade, supported by columns, has stucco decorations of masks and jaguar and serpent heads. The whole Cinco Pisos structure was built over an Early Classic, Petén-style temple whose sequence of construction is still little understood (Andrews 1984).

[Fig.1: The five Level Pyramid at Edzná (photo: Athena Review).]

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