What do we know about the ancient city in Mexico - Palenque? Wikipedia gives very little 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 top of the pyramids. Interest is fueled by the mystery shrouding the Mayan city-state.
Archaeologists tirelessly carry out excavations 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 sights 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, and when is the best time to visit temples and palaces. In our description, we used reviews from tourists.
How to get there
Palenque (Mexico) is located in the south of the country. It is located in the northeastern part of the state 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 will have to overcome 900 km. The nearest airports are in Campeche (360 km) and Villahermosa (145 km).
Bus service to Santo Domingo del Palenque is well developed. Tickets can be purchased in advance online. And already from this city you can get to the museum complex by minibus, which is called “collective” here. It leaves every quarter of an hour from Calle Allende, from the Transportes Chambalu stop. You need to look for a minibus with the inscription "Ruins" on the windshield.
What to take on the road
Chiapas is the wettest state in Mexico. The weather in Palenque is often rainy, so an umbrella is essential. Showers, however, come only in the evening, at night and in the morning, and at noon there is a humid heat. It should be remembered that the city of Palenque is a complex of ruins. You can't buy food or water there. All this must be taken with you.
The city was lost in the jungle for many centuries. And now only a small area of Palenque has been cleared of the 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 to climb long and harddown.
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 for an uninitiated person.
Where to stay
Tourists coming for a long holiday in Palenque (Mexico) book a room in one of the hotels in Santo Domingo. But more ingenious travelers mention in the reviews that there is a tourist camp El Panchan in the immediate vicinity of the ancient city. It consists of several campsites and very budget hotels. El Panchan is a godsend 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 “Hammock” option: you hand over your things to the storage room at the reception, pull a hanging bed between the trees and peacefully rest until the morning - the nights in Mexico are warm.
History of Palenque
The first settlement on this site was formed in the 1st century AD. But the city reached its peak at the turn of the 7th and 8th centuries, during the reign of Pakal. Palenque was actually called Lakam-Ha, which means "Big Water". Perhaps the city deserved this name thanks to a skillful system of aqueducts and canals. Palenque died under circumstances that were not fully clarified in the 10th century. Perhaps the city was sacked by backward tribes who came from the shores of the Gulf of Mexico.
Did the inhabitants of Lakam-Ha escape from thisraid? Nobody knows. The deserted city did not become a refuge for tribes of primitive hunters. In a warm and humid climate, majestic temples and magnificent 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 the name of Palenque to this place. In translation, it means "Snake City". Photos testify to the greatness of the Mayan capital. Palenque (Mexico) remains an amazing mystery. After all, a civilization that did not leave the Stone Age was able to build a metropolis!
Architectural complex plan
The ancient Maya built their city in an exceptionally beautiful place. Jungle-covered mountains rise in the distance. And in the northeast, Lakam-Ha is crossed by the Arroyo Otolum River. It is very picturesque, forms many waterfalls, as well as original 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, you will have to part with 27 pesos (about 131 rubles). The minibus delivers passengers to the architectural complex itself. It opens to the public at 8 am, tickets stop selling at 4:30 pm, and the last visitors are asked to leave the territory at 5 pm. A ticket for an adult costs 57 pesos (312 rubles). This price includes a visit to the museum at the entrance.
Most artifacts have been moved to the capital, butand in this small building there is also something to see. Then a path past two dilapidated pyramids leads 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 Lakam-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 Maya, the capital of the Baakul kingdom. Most of the magnificent buildings of the ghost town were erected between 630 and 740. Then Lakam-Kha had a series of rulers under whom he reached his greatest prosperity. And the most prominent of them all was Pacal.
The subjects loved him and called him the Shield of the Sun. The most significant structures were built during his reign. Therefore, you need to start getting acquainted with Palenque (Mexico) from the palace of the rulers. It stands in the center of the ancient city. The palace is a group of buildings located around four courtyards. In the middle is a tall tower, presumably serving as an observatory. The buildings are full of labyrinths of rooms and corridors. The palace itself rises on a trapezoidal platform 92 meters long and 68 meters wide. On the north side it adjoins the field for the ball game.
Temple of the Inscriptions
On the same central square as the palace of the rulers, a complex of cult pyramids rises. The temple stands out among them.inscriptions, so named because its walls are covered with 617 Mayan hieroglyphs. They have not yet been fully deciphered. The Temple of the Inscriptions differs from other religious buildings in that it was originally supposed to serve as a mausoleum. It was built from 672 to 682 by order 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 there is a small temple for sacrifices, to which 69 steps lead - exactly so many years of Pacal's rule. In 1952, during archaeological excavations in Palenque (Mexico), a secret passage leading to the burial chamber was discovered. 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 Pacal's head made of jadeite and, of course, the sarcophagus of the ruler himself.
The face of the deceased wore a jade mask with obsidian and mother-of-pearl eyes. The sarcophagus was covered by a carved stone slab, which depicts Pacal in some kind of spacecraft, soaring up to the sky. This work of art, which led scientists to talk about Maya 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 sacral 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 so named because it contained the burial of a woman,whose skeleton was densely strewn with cinnabar. Why this was done is another mystery of this mystical place.
