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"La Casa Colorada" in Spanish, this structure is a good example of earlier Puuc-style architecture, with its narrow doors (no columns here), plain lower walls, and upper facade decorated with Chaac masks and geometric designs. The building got its modern-day nickname because, at the time of its discovery, it still displayed vestiges of red paint. The crested roof is an architectural element from the region of the Chenes (now Campeche). It created a special effect which builders used to make temples appear larger than they actually were. The numerous masks of Chaac, the rain god, and the other decorations on the stone frieze are typical of the Puuc architectural style which originated in the Puuc hills region of the Yucatán to the south of Chichén-Itzá. When the Itzá occupied the city centuries after the Chichan Chob was constructed, they built a small ball court on the platform of the structure.
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North America
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