Discover the Magnificent Mayan Heritage: Central America’s Most Important Archaeological Sites
It’s true that the Maya civilization left its most important traces in southern Mexico, where it grew from 2000 BC until the Spanish Conquest in 1492, but it’s also true that from there it spread to other places that are now divided by borders and have different names.
History fans can’t ignore this not-so-small detail when trying to find the way back to the glory days of that ancient civilization. His memory of him, which never goes away and is still very vivid, is fed by the places he has found over time. We are talking about Guatemala, Belize, El Salvador, and Honduras, to be exact.
In our article about the most beautiful archaeological sites in Mexico, we talk in more detail about sites from the Mayas, the Aztecs, the Toltecs, and many other groups. Here, we give you a list of the most beautiful Mayan sites in Central America, which you can find by following in the footsteps of past civilizations.
Lamanai, El Caracol, and the other places in Belize
After being in the dark for hundreds of years, the city of Lamanai, in the Orange Walk district of Belize, got light again in 1974.
Protected by the rain forest, which still hides part of the Temple of the Jaguar, the site was an important part of the Maya economy from 500 BC to 1675 AD, especially during the pre-classic period. The excavations, which went on for a long time until 2004, focused on what was left of the area’s impressive pyramids. These pyramids show what the city must have been like when it was at its best.
David M. Pendergast of the Royal Ontario Museum was able to figure out what it meant, and he felt like he had given humanity a priceless treasure back. In the Mayan language, Lamanai, or Lama’an’ain, means “crocodile under water.” The name comes from the fact that the city is right next to the important business street of the Rio Nuevo. The tours are led to the temples and the museum, which has artifacts on display.
There is another very important archaeological site in Belize. It is in the district of Cayo. We’re talking about El Caracol, which means “snail” in Spanish. It got its name because the 1937 expedition found a lot of snails there. The expedition was led by Rosa Mai, a woodcutter who was the first person to find the area.
There are more than 35,000 buildings hidden in the jungle, and some of them are as tall as 40 meters. The center of the city was so big that it took up 142 kilometers. This made it the most important Mayan site in the country from a political point of view.
Along with the temple, there are two other sites: Xunantunich, also known as “the stone woman,” whose name comes from a legend about a woman with a white dress and red eyes who lived among the ruins, and El Castillo, which is the second-tallest structure after the Caana temple.
Mayan sites in Guatemala: Tikal, El Mirador, Aguateca, and more
Some of the most important Mayan cities are in the department of Petén in Guatemala. The list includes El Mirador, Tikal, Yaxhá, Uaxactn, El Ceibal, Aguateca, Dos Pilar, Ixcn, and Cancuen. And then again, Quirigua, Takalik Abaj, Kaminaljuyu, Iximché, Zaculeu, Mista Viejo, or Guaytán
So far, Tikal is the biggest city found. It was found in 1848, when explorers came across the grand temples, which at their peak between 200 and 900 AD numbered about 200. Its beauty, along with that of El Mirador, which is still protected by the thick vegetation that covers 25 km of it, has been the inspiration for at least two movies, including Star Wars, in which George Lucas chose Tikal as the location for the rebel base in the first chapter, and Apocalypto, which was based on El Mirador. Cuauhtemallan means “land with many trees” in Mayan. This is what the Mayans called Tikal.
On the other hand, the 72-meter-high pyramid La Danta rises among the trees of El Mirador. There is also Yaxhá, with its temples, buildings, and astronomical observatories, as well as the evidence of intense religious activity, which is thought to be one of the best-kept secrets of the ancient civilization that built and wanted it.
The trip keeps going through places that were popular in different times but had the same beauty. On the list is Topoté, the political capital; Uaxactn, the old Siaan Ka’an, which means “born from heaven” and was inhabited from 900 BC to 900 AD; and El Ceibal, which was found at the end of the 19th century but has only been partially excavated and gets its name from the Ceibas trees that grow near the Mayan ruins.
Again, we find Aguateca, located at the top of the 90-meter cliff used as a defensive structure by the inhabitants, Dos Pilas, whose name recalls the bodies of water near the site made known only in 1980 to protect it from predators, Ixkn, and Cancuen, known as the “Lost City“, home to one of the most impressive palaces so far discovered, comprising 200 rooms and built in the 8th century AD.
Copán was the center of the Maya culture in Honduras.
Honduras doesn’t have as many archaeological sites as its neighbors. But the evidence it still has is very important for learning more about the Mayan civilization. For example, the city of Copán, which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, was one of the most important capitals between the 4th and 10th centuries. The site is split into two parts: the larger part has the tombs, while the smaller part has the three museums that were found during the excavations.
El Salvador: Tazumal, Joya de Cerén, and Cihuatán
In El Salvador, there are three important Mayan sites that have been dug up. One of these, Tazumal, is one of the oldest. Its 24-meter-tall pyramid, which dates back to the Classical and Post-Classical periods, has been a wonderful sight for explorers and visitors alike. The destructive event that seemed to wipe out the civilization of Pompeii in order to “preserve” it for future generations connects the ancient Roman city to the Mayan city of Joya de Cerén, which was buried by lava and ash in 600 AD. Since 1993, it has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Lastly, the shape of the volcano Guazapa, which looks a lot like a woman sleeping, led to the name Cihuatán, which means “place of women” and is near Aguilares. Most people still don’t know about the site, which has two large religious buildings used for ceremonies. These buildings are to the east and west of the city.