Akab' Dzib sits away from the most photographed parts of Chichen Itza, which makes it a useful counterpoint to the crowds around El Castillo. The name is usually translated as the House of Mysterious Writing, a nod to the glyphic lintel and the building's long archaeological curiosity.
It is not the biggest structure on the site, but it rewards a slower circuit. Walk here after the main plaza and the observatory area, and you get a better sense of Chichen Itza as a large city rather than a handful of postcard monuments.