Palenque

How to get there:

The state of Chiapas is found in the southeast of the Mexican republic, bordered by Tabasco, Oaxaca, Veracruz, the Pacific Ocean, and the republic of Guatemala. In the northern part of the state, located in the Jungle region, the city of Palenque is found, to which you can arrive on highways 190 and 199 in a trip of approximately 6 hours, departing from Tuxtla Gutierrez, the state capital. If you wish to arrive by train, you will have to take the route that leaves out of Cordoba, Veracruz, with destination to Merida, Yucatan. The station Pakal-Na is located just a few kilometers from Palenque. Commercial flights have already begun to this city, as well as small-plane service arriving from the cities of Tuxtla Gutierrez, Ocosingo and Comitan. To get to Palenque, it is possible to use highway 186.


At 183 kilometers from San Cristobal de las Casas, it was founded in 1567 as part of the evangelizing company of Friar Pedro Lorenzo de la Nada, amongst the Choles. Today it is the economic center of the cattle region of the northeast of Chiapas. It is also a touristic city, since it serves as base to visit the archaeological zone, which gave it its name.
In 1784, it became known outside of the region, the existence of the ruins of a great city, which, throughout the XIX century, attracted the attention of traveler’s whose impressions contributed, that the interest for the Maya culture should grow all over the world. Dupaiz, Stephens, Charnay, Maudelay, and Homes are some of the names of these studious persons, a bit adventurous, that visited this zone last century. In this century, we can remember the works of Seler, Blom, Fernandez, Berlin, and of course, Ruz Lhuiller.
Palenque surged as an agricultural village around the year 100 B.C., but it wasn’t until the late classical period (600-900 A.D.) when it became the capital of this ample region. The Palencan splendor was reached during the mandate of Pacal or Escudo Solar who governed between 615 and 683 and continued under the leadership of his oldest son, Chan Bahlum or Serpent-Jaguar.
The visit can begin at the site’s museum, which shows a collection integrated by objects found during different exploration times, amongst which we find the clay cylinders which served as pedestals for incensories, carved stone boards, stuccos and glyphs.
In front of the museum, a trail goes up the mountain, through a jungle, adorned by the Otolum stream and its cascades. Groups of edification’s are found on this trail, such as Los Murcielagos (the bats), which arrives at the Grand Square. There you will see the ball court, the north group, and the Templo del Conde (temple of the Count). This latter one, constructed during the government of Pacal, is a construction, constituted by five bodies on different levels and a temple at the top.
Overpowering is the aggregate known as El Palacio, whose buildings are distributed around the four patios and were constructed during a long period of the Palencan history. It is said, that partly it was constructed during the government of his oldest son. Its complexity is manifested in the variety of elements that compose it, staired bases, corridors, subterranean galleries, patios, boards with hieroglyphic writing, sculptured boards such as the oval that shows the Ascension of Pacal to the throne next to his mother Zackuk, and stucco decorations. Its tower of four bodies overlooks the ensemble and could have served as an observation post. It is possible that El Palacio could have served as the main residence of the governors.
The majesticness of the Temple of the Inscriptions overlooks the plaza. This building receives its name because of the carved glyph carseous boards found in its interior. It is an authentic mausoleum ordered by Pacal, so that it would serve him for his tomb. To his crypt, you ascend by means of a stairway that remained hidden until 1952, year that the tomb was discovered by Ruz Lhuiller. The funeral chamber presents a sarcophagus covered by a tomb-stone, both decorated with bas-reliefs, the same as the walls of the crypt. The scene on the tomb-stone shows Pacal between the monster of the earth and the cross which symbolizes the cosmic tree, on which rests the celestial bird, resuming this way, the Mayan cosmovision. Next to the temple of the Inscriptions is a platform on which buildings XII and XIII were raised.
The Otolum stream, covered in part by the construction named El Acueducto, separates the central square from the Conjunto de la Cruz, whose construction has been attributed to Chan-Bahlum, formed by the Temples of the sun, of the cross, of the foiled cross and XIV. The temple of the cross is seated on an imposing staired base. It doesn’t conserve its facade, but it does its crests and a great part of its stucco decorations. In its interior there is a board, who’s central motif is a solar mask. The Temple of the Foiled Cross also lost its facade, but conserves the interior sanctuary where you can appreciate the board with the foiled cross, representing the corn plant as axis of the world as the symbol of the cultivated nature. In the Palencan temples, the sanctuaries are characterized in the manner of small interior temples. On the banks of the Otulum, in the jungle, are the ruins of the Templo del Bello Relieve (temple of the beautiful relief) where we conclude the visit to this zone considered by UNESCO as patrimony to humanity.

Visiting hours of the archaeological zone: Monday through Sunday, from 8:00 to 18:00 hours.