Park regulations - Park management - Palenque Trivia

Where to go and what to see?

Palenque is one of the most famous and visited archaeological sites in Mesoamerica. It is the norhtwesternmost city-state in the Maya World, set at the edge of the Yucatan plainlands, at the foot of the first hills that break the flatlands to become the Sierra Madre...

Palenque is considered one of the most important sites in Ancient America. The Maya were highly developed in civil works and architecture here, and practiced a highly organized religion. The Maya of Palenque were very rich in arts and crafts.

Evidence of occupation dates back to about 100 BC, when the city started out as a small farming village in the Pre-Classic or Formative period. Occupation continued -uninterrupted- throughout the early Classic from 300 to 600 AD. The city grew steadily and eventually turned into a large political center, home to a powerful dynasty, that ruled over most of what are today the Mexican States of Chiapas & Tabasco.

The city's original name in Maya may have been Lakamha', the Big Water, but the word “Palenque”, meaning “palisade” in Spanish, was the name given by the Spaniards to a small village, built in the XVIth century -unkowingly- 9 kilometers from an ancient Maya site... However, we know that the Kingdom was called B'aakal in the Maya language, which means 'bone' and that there was either an earlier city named Toktan, understood as the dynastic founder's place of origin, an actual place near Palenque or perhaps a mythical place.

Today, Palenque is the State of Chiapas' most famous and treasured cultural preserve. Its truly fantastically beautiful Maya architecture, a variation of the Peten style, has feautures uniquely its own. One outstanding monument is the tower and so are the roofcombs, which along with other features distinguish the Maya Palencano style.

The city is nestled in the middle of a gorgeous deep green jungle, adorned by crystal clear creeks, water falls and small rivers. From the Cross Group at Palenque one may understand the city's importance and strategic location, dominating the flatlands of the modern day States of Chiapas and Tabasco. It is a most amazing view. The artistic beauty found at the site has gained Palenque worldwide recognition and admiration.

Let us start our walk through the site... There are 2 different ways to access the site of Palenque. The most common one is to access the site from the parking lot and to go directly towards the Temple of the Skull and on to the Temple of the Inscriptions. We always recommend our visitors go this way and then exit the site through the ecological trail, going down the stairway built along the Otulum river, on an easy walk to ending at the site museum …

The first thing one sees as one walks into Palenque, to the right, is the Skull Temple. Rising from the top of a platform, and consisting of 2 parallel passageways looking on to the site, the building is crowned by a front passageway that has a portico, and framed by pillast at the bottom of which you may appreciate the elaborate skull shaped stucco relief. In ancient times this temple must have operated as a sanctuary, stuccoed and painted blue and red. At present, you may immediately spot a strange skull adornment. This is the only distinctive feature on the jamb of the building. It consists of a rabbit skull, to which the temple owes it name.

You will continue walking toward the next building, which you will be able to enter through a small doorway, after climbing up some steps. Continue going into the building until you reach a 3 doorway portico. The lateral stairways on the sides are closed off to the public, but you may peek into the tunnels going up to an unknown recinct and also into the chambers. A remarkable discovery was made in Temple XIII in June of 1994. The bones of a 40 years old woman -covered in cinnabar- were found within the structure. The central chamber holds a stone box where the Red Lady's Burial, a richly adorned tomb, was found. Her tomb bears that characteristic Maya deep red color found in other tombs around the Maya area. The tomb is considereded to be from a similar period to that of Hanab Pakal, Palenque's most famous ruler, buried in the next structure, the Temple of the Inscriptions. We have come to know the woman buried in Temple XIII as the Red Queen of Palenque. It is called the Red Lady because she was covered in cinnabar. In addition to a number of jade and obsidian goods, food and drink were found in her tomb. The Maya believed this would sustain the deceased woman on her way to Xibalba, the Maya Underworld. Her sarcophagus also contained the remains of two other females, one adult and one adolescent.

The Grand Palace, with its extraordinary watch tower, stands ahead of you and Temple XIII. This building stands to the right, in the middle of a row of smaller structures between the Skull Temple and the Temple of the Inscriptions.

The Temple of the Inscriptions is one of the most famous icons of Palenque. This 8 stepped pyramid, 26 meters high, was built up against a thickly overgrown hillside. The broad steep stairway up the front, and paths up the hill, lead to a sanctuary that contains a series of stone panels, carved with hyeroglyphic inscriptions, related to Palenque's dynastic history.

The Temple of the Inscriptions is splendidly decorated with modeled sculpted reliefs, crowning a quintessential Maya pyramid in the best of Palencano architectural style. Within, the tomb of Hanab Pakal lays at the heart of the pyramid, and was discovered in 1952 by Mexican archaeologist Alberto Ruz Lhuiller. This impressive funeral crypt was the first such pyramid burial to be found in the Americas.

Exploring its interior tunnels Ruz found the sarcophagus lid of King Pakal, perhaps Palenque's most noted ruler. Palenque was under Pakal's rule between 615 and 683 AD. His origin and his ancestors, as well as various deities, are masterfully carved into his burial lid, which at the same time recreates Pakal's death, ascending up to the Milky Way.

Past the Temple of the Inscriptions you may decide not to proceed to the Palace directly, but to go around it and toward the Cross group instead. You may also want to go up a flight of stairs on your right and go around the Temple of the Inscriptions to appreciate more of its beautifully sculpted reliefs on the other side of the temple. However, most visitors head over to the Palace. Our advice is to go up and around the Temple of the Inscriptions first and then come back to see Group XV and Structures A & D and the Cross Group before exploring the Palace, where you will undoubtedly spend some time... From Structure B you may also appreciate the beautiful profile view of the Temple of the Inscriptions to your left and a wonderful panoramic view of the Palace and its tower.

The center piece of the site, however, is the Palace. It is not one single building, but -in fact- a complex made up of several buildings built at different times and gradually integrated to form a rambling administrative and residential block. In it you will find inner courtyards, galleries and the famous, yet mysterios tower, which makes the Palace very special. The square tower (whose top floor was reconstructed in 1930) is quite unique and no one knows exactly what its purpose was... No other Maya site has a similar structure. Perhaps it was an outpost to look into the distance or an astronomical observatory. However, it is bizarre that the narrow stairway that winds up inside to the top starts only at the second level, though you are no longer allowed to climb it! In the Palace you will find painted walls, and decorations made from stucco or on stone slabs. You can explore the building's secretely interconnected passageways, and make great pictures of the tunnels..

Further down you will learn more about how the ancient Maya guided the course of their river at Palenque to prevent damage to the city's structures. You may cross over the aqueduct and straight ahead you come to the stairs that will take you up to the Cross Group.

The Maya controled the course of waterways and creeks at Palenque to prevent floods. The banks of several creeks were covered over with stone blocks using the Maya hydraulic system. While most Maya ciities had to store water and make every kind of effort to obtain this precious resource Palenque always had enough water, even to this day!

Then you will explore the Cross Group consisting of tall and narrow pyramids, surmounted by a temple with an elaborate stone roofcomb. Each contains carved panels representing sacred rites. The Cross, owing the group its name, was as important an image in Mayan iconography as it is in the Christian tradition, representing the place where the heavens meet the Underworld, or the land of the living. The cross is not really a cross though, but it represents a tree and the name "cross" was given to the complex because of the interpretation made by archaeologists from a Western point of view.

First we will see the Temple of the Cross, one of the loftiest at the site. The body is made up of 5 large double tiers. The temple consist of a portico and rear passageways and one central room holding a sanctuary. On the right hand side of this panel, there is a depiction of God L smoking tobacco. On its back side is a reconstruction of the panel showing serpentine rulers. It is Chan-Balum II's accession to Palenque's power in 684 AD. On the panel in the inner sanctuary you will see two characters and between them the “world tree”. They may have two different meanings, they are both Chan-Balum – once depicted as a child and the other as an adult. Yet another possible interpretation of this scene is that the smaller character is his father Pacal, who hands power over to him. You will see another flight of stairs, going up into the jungle… But before you go, take a closer look at the Cross Group Panels. Then go over to the Temple of the Foliated Cross, on the east side of the plaza, built over a hillside and made up of several bodies, from which the temple rises. The portico and a rear corridor have adjoining rooms, and there is a sanctuary in the main hall. To the rear we see a carved stone tablet whose main lattice has two characters facing each other with cross-like elements in the middle. The dates engraved on the tablet are from 692 AD, when the temples' consecration took place.

 

The Temple of the Sun has a roofcomb that is in good condition but it has lost its outer facade. This temple was also dedicated in 692 AD. Inside you will find two characters, and between them a shield with the face of the Sun God. It is the Jaguar Sun of the Underworld. This Temple is connected to Kan Balam II's asencion to power.

The city is not only spectacular for its architectural beauty and style but also because it has several creeks crossing its paths & enriching its ornamentation. Palenque must have been like an enchanted Garden of Eden in its heyday judging by the beauty of the restored parts of the city nowadays…

The Temple of the Sun is also part of the Cross Group and has a carved sun panel inside with an inscription dated in 635 AD. This is the year on which Kan Balam was born... The ruler, who may have been Pacal's father himself, is on this panel. Its central scene depicts the Sun God, but also the Lords of the Underworld.

Carry on toward Temple XV inside of which 3 tombs were detected, that together with 3 others behind them, were placed as construction offerings. In the small plaza to the rear the skeletons of 18 people were uncovered in the hall orientation to the North. These other burials are not directly associated with the building, most outstanding are the remains belonging to a ruler found in a sarcophagus in the middle room. From the top you may appreciate truly dramatic views of The Palace.

One of those little secret get aways within Palenque is the Temple of the Jaguar, reached by a small path that follows the brook upstream- which is one delightful and shaded walk and one of our favourites- and beyond are more temples that are being wrestled from the jungle. If you want to go any further make sure you are allowed and that excavation or restoration work isn't being conducted in those complexes or you will just have to walk back. In case there are no yellow plastic signs instructing you to stay out, you may follow the path along the stream beyond the Temple of the Inscriptions and you are in the jungle- or at least a pleasantly tame version of it. Tarzan creepers hang from giant trees, while all around there are howler monkeys, strange bird calls and mysterious chatterings. The path leads to the Ejido of Naranjo, a little over an hour's walk away. Again, make sure this is allowed... It's easy to believe you are walking over unexcavated pyramids: the ground is very rocky and some of the stones don't look naturally formed.

Take this opportunity to appreciate the babble of the beautiful Otulum Creek gently flowing downstream, framed completely by a natural delight of a forest still left untouched around Palenque. Palenque is a delightful "outdoor museum" and art exhibit all in one, hosted in the garden of Eden... You will find our words are no exageration once you have visited the site!!!

On the way out of the site you will see the Ball court and you could take the time to see Groups C and B following the nature trail to the beautiful waterfalls... Continue heading downward until you reach the Palenque Museum, where you will find excellent displays and wonderfully well put together explanations of the site... Spend some time at the museum and go on to discover the amazing sites of Yaxchilan and Bonampak, explore the beautiful waterfalls of Agua Azul or Misolha and spend some time in the beautiful San Cristobal de las Casas after your explorations of Palenque! For the truly adventuresome Chiapas has a lot more to offer and you can visit these amazing places with us, such as the Montebello Lagoons, Las Guacamayas and Las Nubes... We will gladly tell you all about it on our travel section!

Any observations, corrections or contributions welcome! Please write us at ecoadventure@palenquepark.com

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