What do we know about the ancient city in Mexico - Palenque? Wikipedia provides very scarce information about this place. However, this ancient Mayan city is one of the country's most popular attractions. Tourists are attracted there by numerous temples, towering on the tops of the pyramids. Interest is fueled by the mystery enveloping the Mayan city-state.
Archaeologists tirelessly excavate in Palenque, but so far, about 10 percent of the territory has been discovered and restored. In this article we will give the most complete overview of the attractions of the ruins of the ancient city. The reader will also find useful information on how to get to the open-air museum, where to stay, when it is better to inspect temples and palaces. In our description we used the reviews of tourists.
How to get there
Palenque (Mexico) is located in the south of the country. It is located in the northeastern part of Chiapas. It should be said that the ruins of the ancient city are a museum complex. The nearest inhabited place is Santo Domingo del Palenque, located six kilometers away. This city can be reached by bus. The journey from Cancun or Mexico City will be too long - you have to overcome 900 km. The nearest airports are in Campeche (360 kilometers) and Villahermosa (145 km).
Bus connections to Santo Domingo del Palenque are well developed. Tickets can be bought in advance online. And already from this city to the museum complex can be reached by minibus, which is here called "collectively." It leaves every quarter hour from Calle Allende Avenue, from the Transportes Chambalu stop. You need to look for a minibus with the inscription on the windshield "Ruins".
What to take on the road
Chiapas is the wettest in Mexico. The weather in Palenque is often rainy, so an umbrella is necessary. Showers, however, go only in the evening, at night and in the morning, and at noon there is humid heat. It should be remembered that the city of Palenque is a complex of ruins. You don’t buy water or drink there. All this must be taken with you.
The city was lost in the jungle for centuries. And now only a small area of Palenque has been cleared of selva. If you want to see all the sights, including natural ones (and they certainly deserve it), take comfortable shoes. Temples stand on top of pyramids with high steep steps. Get ready for a long and hard climb up and down.
First, tourists recommend visiting the museum, which is located at the entrance to the historical and architectural reserve. Believe me, knowing the history of this place, seeing the priceless artifacts that are stored there, it will be much more interesting for you to walk between the ruins than an uninitiated person.
Where to stay
Tourists who come for a long vacation in Palenque (Mexico) book a room in one of the hotels of Santo Domingo. But more ingenious travelers mention in reviews that in the immediate vicinity of the ancient city there is a tourist camp El Panchan. It consists of several campsites and very budget hotels. El Panchan - a find for backpackers. After all, there you can rent a whole room with a shower and a bathroom, as well as a bed in a dormitory. There is also the option “Hammock”: you hand over things to the left-luggage office at the reception desk, pull a hanging bunk between the trees and peacefully rest until morning - the nights in Mexico are warm.
The story of Palenque
The first settlement on this place was formed in the 1st century AD. But the city reached its peak of prosperity at the turn of the 7th and 8th centuries, during the reign of Pacal. Palenque was actually called Lakam-Ha, which means "Big Water." Perhaps the city has earned this name thanks to its skillful system of aqueducts and canals. Palenque died under unclear circumstances in the 10th century. Perhaps the city was plundered by backward tribes who came from the shores of the Gulf of Mexico.
Have Lakam Ha residents saved themselves from this raid? Nobody knows that. The deserted city did not become the refuge of the primitive hunter tribes. In a warm and humid climate, majestic temples and lush palaces are overgrown with lush tropical greenery. In this form, the city was discovered in 1746 by the Spaniards. Since pythons were often depicted on the bas-reliefs of buildings, they gave this place the name Palenque. Translated, it means "Serpent city." The greatness of the Mayan capital is evidenced by the photo. Palenque (Mexico) remains an amazing mystery. After all, a civilization that did not emerge from the Stone Age was able to build a metropolis!
Plan of the architectural complex
The ancient Mayans built their city in an exceptionally beautiful place. In the distance towers of mountains covered with jungle. And in the northeast of Lakam Ha the river Arroyo Otolum crosses. It is very picturesque, forms many waterfalls, as well as peculiar natural bowls, called the “Queen's Baths”. So, having examined the ruins of the center of the ancient city, you need to delve into the jungle and visit the most beautiful waterfalls.
Palenque (Mexico) is also a national natural park, for which entry is charged. At the barrier will have to part with 27 pesos (about 131 rubles). Minibus delivers passengers to the most architectural complex. It opens for visiting at 8 am, tickets stop selling at 16:30, and the last visitors are asked to leave the territory at 17 o’clock. A ticket for an adult costs 57 pesos (312 rubles). This price also includes a visit to the museum at the entrance.
Most of the artifacts have been moved to the capital, but this small building also has something to see. Then the path past the two dilapidated pyramids takes the visitor to the city center. There rises the palace of rulers and a complex of temples. These are the most significant buildings in Lakam Ha.
Palenque (Mexico) Attractions
Each city goes through certain stages of development. And Lacam Ha is no exception. A small settlement here arose at the dawn of our era. And already in the III century, it became an important political and cultural center of the Mayans, the capital of the Baakul kingdom. Most of the magnificent buildings of the ghost town were erected between 630 and 740. Then Lakam Ha had a series of rulers, at which he reached its greatest prosperity. And the most outstanding of them was Pacal.
The subjects loved him and called the Shield of the Sun. The most significant buildings were built during his reign. Therefore, you need to start getting acquainted with Palenque (Mexico) from the palace of rulers. It stands in the center of the ancient city. A palace is a group of buildings located around four courtyards. In the middle is a tall tower, supposedly serving as an observatory. In the buildings there are whole labyrinths of rooms and corridors. The palace itself rises on a trapezoidal platform 92 meters long and 68 meters wide. On the north side adjacent to it is a field for playing ball.
Temple of the inscriptions
In the same central square as the palace of the rulers, a complex of cult pyramids rises. Among them stands out the temple of inscriptions, so named because its walls are dotted with 617 Mayan characters. They still have not been able to fully decipher. The temple of inscriptions differs from other religious buildings in that it was originally supposed to serve as a mausoleum. It was built from 672 to 682 on the orders of Takal's son, Kan Balam II, who wanted to perpetuate the glory of the Shield of the Sun.
At the top of the pyramid is a small temple for sacrifices, which leads to 69 steps - Pacal rules for exactly so many years. In 1952, during archaeological excavations in Palenque (Mexico), a secret passage was discovered leading to the burial chamber. Five skeletons of aristocrats of both sexes were found there, who were supposed to accompany their master to the underground kingdom of darkness, sculptural images of the head of Pakal from jadeite and, of course, the sarcophagus of the ruler himself.
On the face of the deceased was a jade mask with eyes from obsidian and mother of pearl. The sarcophagus was covered by a carved stone slab, which shows Pacal in a kind of spacecraft soaring up to the sky. This creation of art, which made scientists talk about Maya's contact with extraterrestrial civilizations, is now stored in a museum in Mexico City. And in Lakam Ha you can see a copy of the plate.
Other temples
In the central part of Palenque (Mexico), several more sacred pyramids rise. Of greatest interest are the temples of the Cross and the Sun. Tourists recommend not to miss the tomb of the Red Queen. This is another mausoleum. It is named so because it was discovered the burial of a woman whose skeleton was densely strewn with cinnabar. Why this was done is another mystery of this mystical place.