{{Short description|Cenote in Yucatan, Mexico}} thumb|upright=1.35|The cenote at Ik Kil '''Ik Kil''' is a cenote outside Pisté in the Tinúm Municipality, Yucatán, Mexico. It is located in the northern center of the Yucatán Peninsula and is part of the '''Ik Kil Archeological Park''' near Chichen Itza. It is open to the public for swimming.
==Description== [[File:Cenote en Chichén Itzá, Yucatán, México.jpg|thumb|Looking down into the cenote]] The cenote is open to the sky with the water level about {{convert|26|m|ft}} below ground level. It is about {{convert|60|m|ft}} in diameter and about {{convert|48|m|ft|abbr=}} deep.<ref name="yucatantoday">{{cite web |title=Cenotes, Underwater Sinkholes |url=https://yucatantoday.com/en/blog/cenotes-underwater-sinkholes |publisher=Yucatan Today |date=15 May 2022 |access-date=11 April 2024}}</ref> A carved stairway leads down to a swimming platform.
Cenote Ik Kil is near the Maya<ref>{{Cite web |title=Cities in Mexico and Brief History |url=https://latamliving.com/latam/cities-in-mexico-and-brief-history/#maya-vs-mayan |website=Latam Living}}</ref> ruins of Chichen Itza, on the highway to Valladolid. Ik Kil was considered sacred by the Maya who used the site as a location for human sacrifice to their rain god, Chaac. Bones and pieces of jewelry have been found in the waters of the cenote by archaeologists and speleologists.<ref name="Cenotes of Mexico"> {{cite web |url=https://cenotesmexico.org/cenote-ik-kil/ |title=Cenote Ik-Kil |publisher=Cenotes of Mexico |access-date=1 November 2017}}</ref>
The cenote is part of a complex that includes a restaurant and hotel with free food and drinks.<ref name="Cenotes of Mexico" /> Ik Kil was a location on the Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series in 2010, 2011 and 2014.<ref name="behind">{{cite web|title=Red Bull Cliff Diving, Cenote Ik Kil|url=http://www.behindmagazine.com/contents/?p=22672|accessdate=14 May 2011|work=12 April 2011|publisher=Behind Magazine|archive-date=24 March 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120324022239/http://www.behindmagazine.com/contents/?p=22672|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="redbullcliffdiving">{{cite web|last=|first=|date=|title=Diving Into Deepest Mexico|url=http://www.redbullcliffdiving.com/en_US/video/diving-deepest-mexico|accessdate=16 March 2015|website=|publisher=Red Bull Cliff Diving}}</ref> thumb|upright|Stairs to access
== See also == * List of sinkholes of Mexico
==References== {{reflist}}
== External links == {{Commons category}} *[https://web.archive.org/web/20100606195426/http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2010/06/photogalleries/100604-sinkhole-pictures-around-the-world-guatemala-city/#/sinkholes-holes-ground-swimming_21290_600x450.jpg National Geographic] *[http://www.lonelyplanet.com/mexico/yucatan-peninsula/chichen-itza/sights/lake/ik-kil-parque Lonely Planet] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130621050139/http://www.lonelyplanet.com/mexico/yucatan-peninsula/chichen-itza/sights/lake/ik-kil-parque |date=2013-06-21 }}
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Category:Natural history of Yucatán Category:Sinkholes of Mexico Category:Museums in Yucatán Category:Sacred waters