Copán Maya Ruins, Honduras - August 30, 2023

[Martin Hash]

Our last Maya city visit on our trek through Central America was the ancient city of Copán in Honduras, one of the best known and most significant, occupied for two thousand years. It was a capital city from 426–822 AD even though it was almost surrounded by non-Mayans. At its peak, it had a population of 20,000 people and covered 100 square miles. The first mention of Copán by the Spanish was in 1576. It became famous in Europe in 1834 when interest in archaeology was raging. Copán’s reputation comes from the intricate stela, statues; containing more almost 1,800 Glyphs. Most are difficult for our foreign eyes to recognize; the life-size figures are wearing very alien-looking clothes & headdresses. The ball court there is one of the largest, and very well preserved; I stood in its center imagining ancient athletes playing the game. The ruins were being eroded away by the Copán river until it was redirected specifically to save the site. The enormous lawns around the sites must take an army of maintenance people to keep up.



The caves under the temples were a unique experience; thought to be ritualistic because they containing tombs, and inscriptions indicate that the ancient people thought them to be conduits into the underground where significant Maya legends take place.



My wife, Gwynne, and I were the only ones of our group who went into the museum. We were told that the original carvings were there; the ones outside being only copies, but after seeing both up close, I think that’s reversed. However, the museum contains life-size reconstruction of the Rosalila temple in all its colorful grandeur.