Description of the attraction
Copan is an ancient Mayan city that reached its zenith in the classical period between 426 and 820. ad. The archaeological park is just 1 km away. west of the city in the middle of a forest, bordered by a river, can be reached by taxi or on foot. The entrance to the reserve is carried out through a long alley along the embankment, which leads to the Great Square in the center, a pyramid and several high steles. Most of the hieroglyphs, sculptures, steles and altars belong to the classical period.
There is a monument here that tells the history of the Copan settlement. It is called the "hieroglyphic ladder" - it is the largest stylized text in all of America, which lists the 12 first kings of Copan and describes their deeds. Initially, the pyramid consisted of almost a quarter of a million stone blocks with carved hieroglyphic inscriptions, today it is in a good state of preservation.
To the right of the main square, on a hill, there are many acropolis of traditional pyramidal structures with many stairs. Here and there human figures, animals are carved, there are steles, altars and sculptures of deities. In the courtyard of the west wing you can see the Altar "Q" - a stone block of regular square shape with the names and figures of the 16 kings of Copan, 4 on each side.
The most notable structure, the Rosalila Temple, is so named because of its specific color, it is also known as the Temple of the Sun. A special feature of Rosalila is that he was completely buried under another pyramidal structure made of stone and plaster, therefore it has remained almost intact to this day.
Archaeologists discovered that the buildings, steles and altars were all used together as large sundials.
Near Copan there is a small village dedicated to the creation of the infrastructure of the reserve. It houses hotels and restaurants, as well as some travel agencies that organize trips to Copan. In addition to exploring the Mayan ruins, eco-tours through the jungle, observing the local fauna, horseback riding or biking are offered. The Archaeological Park is open every day from 8 am to 4 pm, ticket prices vary depending on the volume of the tour.
