📷 JuanCernas · Pixabay

Where in the world

Honduras

Copán

Maya · Honduras

Field notes

civilizations: Maya
types: City · Temple · Ceremonial pyramid · Ballcourt
built: 426 CE — 800 CE
occupied: 100 CE — 850 CE
country: Honduras

The site

Copán is a Maya city in a fertile mountain valley of western Honduras, near the Guatemalan border and on the far southeastern frontier of the Mesoamerican world. Capital of a major Classic-period kingdom from the 5th to 9th centuries, it developed a distinctive sculptural style, and its ruined citadel and public squares reveal three main stages of growth before its abandonment. Occupied for over two thousand years, this UNESCO World Heritage site holds one of the richest historical records of any Maya center.

Nearby sites