 Tikal is among the world's travel wonders, many calling Tikal one of the most spiritually powerful spots on earth. The monumental site with its towering pyramids looms out of the thick jungle canopy like stoic sentinels of ancient mysteries.
Tikal was once a wealthy metropolis of 100,000 inhabitants and the seat of power for the great Jaguar clan lords. Today, Tikal attracts archeologists from all around the globe and the wild-live surrounding the ruins makes it a naturalist's dream. Because of its importance and magnificent combination of nature and archaeological remains, Tikal has been declared a Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO.
The ruins of Tikal include more than 3,000 structures extending over six square miles and including palaces, temples, ceremonial platforms, ball courts, terraces, plazas, avenues and steam baths. The ancient Maya began building Tikal around 600 B.C., and for the next 1500 years the area was an important religious, scientific, and political center.
The Tikal National Park is not only home to an ancient Mayan City. Screeching howler monkeys and squawking parrots provide nature's soundtrack to all visitors in the area. From monkeys to white lipped peccary, brocket deer, coati-mundis, toucans, scarlet macaws, parrots, ocelots; even the seldom jaguar can occasionally be spotted. Along with many vegetation spices there is also an abundance of tropical flowers.
The charming town of Flores, with its pastel-colored buildings, enjoys a scenic setting on Lake Peten Itza. It is located about half an hour from the entrance of the National Park and serves as a gateway to explore the immediate area.
Located in El Peten just a few hours through the jungle from Belize, Tikal is the most impressive and magnificent Mayan ruin in Central America. Believed to have been one of the most powerful cities in the ancient Mayan world, Tikal was inhabited between roughly 800 B.C. and 900 A.D., and was home to 100,000 people at its height. Today, a wildlife preserve covering 220 square miles of lush rainforest surrounds the ruins, and visitors commonly see monkeys and several species of tropical birds that inhabit the trees around the ancient city. The ruins are 66 kilometers from Flores on paved roads. It is recommended that you take at least 2 days to see the ruins.
The city and surrounding areas are believed to have spanned an area of 23 square miles. The temples are mainly constructed out of limestone, which was very important for construction because it also provided lime for stucco and plaster. Pyramids represent the sacred mountains where it was believed that maize came from. The temples used to be covered in rich color patterns and some temples were even painted completely red. The east plaza was the main plaza in the Classic era, although today the Great Plaza is the center of the site.  Seventy stelae, originally painted red, have been located around this ruin. These stelae, each of which once had an altar beside it, commemorate the rulers of Tikal, and their faces can still be seen today carved on one side of the large stone monuments. The nearby Temple of the Giant Jaguar is a 100-foot high pyramid concealing the tomb of Ahau Cacau, the divine ruler of Tikal. Other noteworthy temples and plazas: the Temple of the Masks, Temple of the Jaguar Priest, the North Acropolis, and to the south of the great plaza complex, the Central Acropolis. Here there are 42 palaces, all excellent examples of Mayan architecture.
The Great Plaza, the East Plaza, and the Plaza of the Seven Temples all have ball courts. In the Plaza of the Lost World, pyramid 5C-54 is one of the oldest pyramids with a core which is believed to have been built around 500 B.C. Southeast of Group G is a causeway that leads to the Temple of the Inscriptions, completed around 750 A.D.
An official expedition to Tikal was not made until 1848, although the locals probably knew about the site for years. It was declared a national park and countless other archaeological studies have been carried out. |
