Palenque Ruin Site

Palenque Ruin Site
Chiapas State, Mexico

Palenque's Temple of the Inscriptions above the tomb of the Emperor Pacal, ruler from
615 AD to 683 AD

Palenque Ruin Site view of the complex called the palace from the Temple of the Cross

Views of Palenque's temples from the Temple of the Cross

View from the Temple of the Cross

Palenque, an ancient Mayan city, was at its height from 600AD to 1000 AD

Palenque Ruin site, named by the Spanish and meaning fortification, is an abandoned stone city built by the Mayans
between the 5th and 9th centuries AD near the Usamacinta River in Mexico's southern most state of Chiapas.
Palenque was once an important Mayan political center, the Mayan rulers abandoned the city around 1000 AD.
The small town of Palenque (85,000) occupies a hillside 8 miles from the site where ADO bus service is available as is
other services and tours to nearby sites such as Bonampak and Yaxchilan. Tours also leave the area for the cascades
of Agua Azule and for San Christobal de las Casas.

To visit Palenque ruin Site and Museum, catch the White VW collective taxis that make runs to the ruin about every
15 minutes and cost about $1. USD. They round the rotary at the Cabeza Maya, a large stone sculptured head at the
entrance to the town.
Campgrounds, hotels, and posadas are plentiful in the town with campgrounds and inns on the entrance road to the
archaeological site.

Friar Diego de Landa (1524-1579) described the city in 1567 writings available in a book at
Palenque's museum bookstore: "Yucatan Before And After The Conquest. "

Occupied from 100 AD, the sites Classic Period buildings that still stand took shape between 600 AD
and 1000 AD.

Legend and stone inscription suggest that the first inhabitants were Olmec people and the artifacts in
the small museum on the entrance road would bolster that theory.

Temple of the Cross

View of the Palace

Palenque's most notable leader was 7 Th Century king or emperor Pacal who ruled from 615 to 683 AD.
He built the so-called Temple of the Inscriptions dedicated in 692 atop the pyramid enclosing his tomb.

After the decline of the center the area farmers continued to live in the valley below the city but according to
reports the area was nearly deserted when the Spanish arrived in 1520.

American travel writer John Lloyd Stephens and English artist Frederick Catherwood made trips to the
area in 1839 and 1842, documenting the sites with text and drawings in their publication, "Incidents of
Travel In The Yucatan" published in 1843.

Controlled archaeology commenced with a Tulane University expedition headed by Franz Blom in 1923. Later
Mexican researchers headed by Albert Ruiz Lhuillier, working from 1949 to 1952, would discover the tomb of Pacal
at the ground level within the pyramidal platform supporting the Temple of the Inscriptions. Scientific work continues
within the site which is presently 10% excavated and stabilized.