Six magical places where the arrival of spring is celebrated

BarcelonaEvery March 20th or 21st, when the spring equinox arrives, a ray of light passes through precise points of ancient buildings around the world. At Chichén Itzá, Mexico, the light descends down the stairs of the Temple of Kukulcan and creates the illusion of a moving serpent. At Mnjandra, Malta, the light penetrates between the megaliths whose precision seems to defy the centuries. Elsewhere in the world, temples and structures of ancient civilizations reveal their perfect alignment with the sun. This fascination with marking the passage of time is no coincidence: it responds to a need to understand and organize the cycle of nature.

The equinox, from the Latin æquinoctium –equal night–, is the moment when the Sun sits exactly over the Earth's equator, making day and night of equal length around the world. This phenomenon, beyond its astronomical explanation, has meant for many cultures the rebirth of nature during the spring equinox and has marked the beginning of a period of contemplation during the autumn equinox. Thus, societies around the world have left testimony to this connection with the cosmos through architectures so precise that they still amaze us today.

Built with surprising precision, many of these buildings continue to be the setting for rituals and celebrations. We explore some of these extraordinary works that, centuries after they were built, continue to converse with the Sun and remind us that light is also a way of measuring time and history.

On the Yucatán Peninsula, in the middle of the Mexican jungle, stands Chichén Itzá, one of the most majestic cities of the Mayan civilization. Kukulcan, a stepped pyramid-shaped temple, conceals an impressive phenomenon. Every year, during the spring and autumn equinoxes, the sun becomes the protagonist of a unique spectacle: as the light bends, the shadows of the steps draw the undulating body of a serpent of light that seems to descend to the base of the pyramid where its stone head is located. This is a testament to the profound astronomical knowledge of the Mayans, who transformed this pyramid into a veritable stone calendar, marked by the dance of the sun and the seasons. This phenomenon also included a divine message: Kukulcan, the soaked serpent, descended to bless the earth and mark the beginning of new agricultural and ritual cycles.

The Temple of the Sun is the heart of the sacred Inca city of Machu Picchu. It is a semicircular construction that demonstrates the profound astronomical knowledge of that civilization. In addition to being a place of worship for the god Inti, this temple is a precision instrument for measuring time and agricultural cycles. During the spring and autumn equinoxes, sunlight passes through one of its windows and precisely illuminates a stone altar, marking the moments when day and night are of equal length. Located at one of the highest points in the city, the temple reinforces the connection between heaven and Earth, reaffirming the centrality of the Sun in the Andean worldview.

If you want to see another spectacular phenomenon, you'll have to get up very early and stand in front of Angkor Wat, Cambodia's largest and most iconic temple, on the day of the spring equinox. Built in the 12th century during the Khmer Empire, this enormous religious complex was initially dedicated to the Hindu deity Vishnu and later became a sacred site for Buddhism. The main temple in the area, which gives its name to the entire complex, is impressive not only for its size, symmetry, and sculpture, but also for its precise orientation and relationship to the solar cycles. At dawn on the spring and autumn equinoxes, the sun slowly rises right over the top of Angkor Wat's central tower. This alignment is the result of meticulous planning by the Khmers, who wanted to symbolize Angkor Wat as the axis of the Universe, with its main tower representing the mythical Mount Meru, the residence of the gods. Today, it reminds us that time, for the ancient inhabitants of Angkor, was not linear, but an eternal cycle in which the sun always returns to its sacred place.

From the Cambodian jungle, we move into the middle of the New Mexico desert, where Chaco Canyon stands as a testament to the Anasazi's ingenuity and astronomical knowledge. Between the 9th and 13th centuries, this site became a ceremonial and commercial center, but also a great open-air observatory. The ancient civilization carved the language of the sun and moon into stone. Its masterpiece is the Sun Dagger, a phenomenon revealed on Fajada Butte, a hill where, during the equinoxes, a beam of light filters between two slabs and falls precisely on a spiral etched into the rock, a clock of light that marked the passage of time and seasonal cycles. This alignment is not isolated: other structures in the site are designed following the trajectory of the stars, reinforcing the idea that Chaco was a sophisticated monumental calendar. This place fascinates archaeologists, astronomers, and visitors seeking to understand the legacy of a culture that, in a hostile environment, knew how to read the sky with extraordinary precision.

To discover one of the most fascinating prehistoric temples in Europe, you'll have to go to the south coast of Malta. Perched on a cliff overlooking the Mediterranean is the megalithic temple of Mnajdra. Built 5,500 years ago, older than Stonehenge and the pyramids of Egypt, it stands as one of the finest examples of prehistoric architecture aligned with the Sun and bears witness to the astronomical knowledge of an almost unknown civilization. During the spring and autumn equinoxes, the first rays of the sun pass through the entrance and illuminate the central axis of the temple with surprising precision. The exact meaning of these alignments is unknown, but everything suggests that the Sun not only marked agricultural cycles but also played an important role in spiritual and community rituals. Today, it remains one of the great mysteries of European megalithic architecture and proof that, long before the great classical civilizations, there were already people who looked to the sky to understand the passage of time and their place in the Universe.

Amidst the vastness of the Pacific, the moai of Easter Island, these enigmatic figures that rise across the island, continue to fascinate archaeologists and travelers. Although their exact function has yet to be determined, several studies suggest that their orientation is no coincidence: some moai are aligned with the spring and autumn equinoxes. One of the clearest examples is Ahu Akivi, the only group of moai located inland on the island rather than on the coast. Unlike the others, which face inland, these seven moai face the ocean, and during the equinoxes, the sun rises and sets directly in front of them. This alignment suggests that the ancient inhabitants of Rapa Nui used the moai not only as religious symbols or ancestral representations, but also as markers of time.

The Temple of Abu Simbel, one of the jewels of Ancient Egypt, is not only an architectural marvel but also proof of this civilization's astronomical mastery. Although it does not coincide with the equinoxes, every year on February 22 and October 22, the first rays of the sun pass through its passageway to illuminate the statues of Ra-Horakhty, Amun-Ra, and Ramses II, while Ptah, the god of the underworld, remains in darkness. But why these dates? There are several theories: that they coincided with the birth and coronation of Ramses II, that they were related to religious festivals, or even that they were aligned with key astronomical phenomena, such as the heliacal rising of Sirius, the moment when this star was again visible above the horizon before dawn.