General Information

Sometimes called the "Temple" of the Dwarf, or the Casa del Anano (House of the Dwarf), and even the Pyramid of the Magician, this structure is one of the key structures in Uxmal due to its size and religious significance. John Stephens described it as being 240 feet long at the base and 120 feet wide. Most of the modern names we have for the structures of the Maya came from the Spanish Conquistadors or some other such "modern" name usually related to its suspected function or a particular structural shape. The "House of the Dwarf" was named this at the time John Stephens visited the site in 1840.

Located on the eastern side of the city, with its western face overlooking the Nunnery Quadrangle, this is the first structure seen as visitors enter the city. Though it appears as a single structure, this pyramid has in fact been built and added to 5 times in the course of history, in the known Maya practice of building newer temples on top of older ones at 52 year cycles. At the base of the western stairs archeologists have discovered the original temple that started the complete construct (called Temple 1) and its birth has been carbon dated to the year 569. Though the overall temple as it appears now was completed between 900-1000 AD.

Structure like El Castillo at Chichén Itzá are known for their angled, stepped appearance, but the Pyramid of the Dwarf is different from any other structure built by the Maya in that it resembles a truncated cone, with an oval base and no corners other than those found on the stairs and on the temples found at the apex of those stairs.

The Eastern Stairs are the widest of the two sets, starting from from the base of the structure to the upper temple. The roof of the temple at the top of the eastern stairs stands 45 meters from the ground. Near the top of the eastern stairs is a smaller inner temple that cuts into the stairway itself. Once used for ceremonial purposes, this dark two-room temple is now a home for bats.

The Western Stairs overlook the Nunnery, and perhaps by virtue of them facing this significant structure, are very richly decorated and carved compared to the eastern side. Along both sides of this narrower staircase, images of the hooked-nose rain god Chac line the stairs meaning that as worshipers climbed the stairs to the upper temples they would be in effect climbe a "Stairways of the Gods" towards the place where they would perform their ceremonies. The Upper Temple of the western stairs is in the Chenes-style, where the open doorway to the inner temple is meant to resemble the jaws of a huge Cosmic Serpent in the visage of the Mayan god of the sky Itzamna.

There is an ancient legend that was first told to John Stephens by a local indian, as to how this structure originally came to be built, and also provides the source of the name it was given.

The Legend of the Pyramid of the Dwarf

The following story was told to John Stephens when he first visited Uxmal in 1840. Variations on the theme abound, but this is the story as it was originally told to him by the local populace.

There was an old woman who lived in a hut that was located on the exact spot where the finished pyramid now stands. This old woman was a witch who one day went into mourning that she had no children. One day, she took an egg and wrapped it in cloth and placed it in a corner of her small hut. Every day she went to look at the egg until one day it hatched and a small creature, closely resembling a baby, came from the enchanted egg.

The old woman was delighted and called the baby her son. She provided it with a nurse and took good care of it so that within a year it was walking and talking like a man. It stopped growing after a year and the old woman was very proud of her son and told him that one day he would be a great Lord or King.

One day, she told her son to go the House of the Governor and challenge the King to a trial of strength. The dwarf didn't want to go at first but the old woman insisted and so to see the King he went. The guards let him in and he threw down his challenge to the King. The King smailed, and told the dwarf to lift a stone that weighed three arrobas (75 pounds). At this the dwarf cried and ran back to his mother. The witch was wise, and told her son to tell the King that if the King would lift the stone first, then he would lift it also. The dwarf returned and told the King what his mother told him to say. The king lifted the stone and the dwarf did the same. The King was impressed, and a little nervous, and tested the dwarf for the rest of the day with other feats of strength. Each time the King performed an act, the dwarf was able to match it.

The King became enraged that he was being matched by a dwarf, and told the dwarf that in one night he must build a house higher than any other in the city or he would be killed. The dwarf again returned crying to his mother who told him to not lose hope, and that he should go straight to bed. The next morning the city awoke to see the Pyramid of the Dwarf in its finished state, larger than any other building in the city.

The King saw this building from his palace and was again enraged and summoned the dwarf. The King told the dwarf he had one final test of strength. The dwarf had to collect two bundles of Cogoil wood, a very strong and heavy wood, and the king would break the wood over the head of the dwarf, and after that the dwarf could have his turn to break the wood over the King's head.

The dwarf again ran to his mother for help. She told him not to worry and placed an enchanted tortillia on his head as a crown. The trial was performed in front of all the great men of the city. The King broke the whole of his bundle over the dwarfs head one at a time without hurting or bothering the dwarf in the least. The King then tried to bow out of his challenge, but in front of all the cities great men he knew he had no choice but to go ahead and let the dwarf have his turn.

The second stick of the bundle broke the Kings skull into pieces and he fell dead at the foot of the dwarf who everyone acknowledged as the new King.

The dwarf returned to tell his mother what had transpired, but found that she had died. But she died happy to know that her son had indeed become King.

Legend has it that in the town of Mani, seventeen leagues distant, there is a deep well that opens into a cave that leads all the way to Merida. In this cave, on the bank of a stream under the shade of a large tree, sits an old woman who with a serpent by her side. She begs occasionally or sells water. Not for money, but for a criatura or baby to feed to her serpent.

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