The Maya built the pyramid between the 8th and 12th centuries CE. The article dates the last construction phase to 900 to 1000 CE in one passage and to the 11th century in another. An earlier inner temple, the substructure, is dated to roughly 600 to 800 CE.
The structure is 79 feet (24 m) high, plus a 20-foot (6 m) temple on top, and its base is 181 feet (55.3 m) square. It rises in square terraces with a stairway on each side, about 91 steps per side. Counting the temple platform as a final step gives about 365, matching the days of the Haab' calendar year. Plumed serpent sculptures run down the northern balustrade.
At the spring and autumn equinoxes, late-afternoon sun casts triangular shadows on the northwest balustrade that look like a serpent crawling down the temple, though the article does not confirm this was intended. Around 2006 the INAH closed the monuments to climbing.
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