Balankanche Cave

Sacred Maya cave located approximately 4 km southeast of Chichen Itza in Yucatan, Mexico. Used for over two thousand years for rituals dedicated to the rain god Chaac and, in the Post-Classic period, his Toltec counterpart Tlaloc. First visited by Edward Thompson and Alfred Tozzer in 1905, the cave's full extent and hidden passages were not discovered until 1959. The 2 km cave complex contained stairs, altars, and ritual displays of ceramics and stone implements. INAH converted it into an underground museum with artifacts returned to their original positions.