The first phase of its architecture
was distinctly Puuc or pre-Toltec. In the lOth century, Chichen ltza was reoccupied by
the ltza after a brief period of abandonment (probably due to drought), when its architecture became distinctly Toltec in
style and conception. Since Chichen ltza is very far from Tula the mechanics of the influence between the two are still a subject of discussion. The sudden efflorescence
of Toltec architecture in Chichen ltza has led some to speculate that the exiled Toltec ruler, Topiltzin Quetzalcoatl, may have in fact landed in Chichen ltza, arriving there by sea in the 9th century.