Architecture · sunlight · living calendar
Chichén Itzá
solar calendar
Explore the changing pattern of direct sunlight on the northwest staircase balustrade of El Castillo across all 365 days of the year.
Open the interactive modelMethod
A reproducible architectural sunlight study
The model uses Chichén Itzá’s coordinates (20.6843° N, 88.5678° W), an architectural orientation of 22.5° from true north, and a Radiance 6.0a CIE clear-sky ray trace. No weather file is used.
Yellow marks direct solar radiation. Dark surfaces are in umbra or receive no direct sun. The 365-day sequence is calibrated against dated photographic observations; it is an interpretive research model, not a measured weather reconstruction or a conservation survey.