Explore the Maya Temples at Copán Ruinas
A guided tour
Welcome to Copán, an ancient Mayan city with hidden underground secrets and the jewel of the Classical period of Maya civilization.
This site was the powerful capital city of the Maya kingdom, ruled by 16 kings from about 426 to 822 CE when it was mysteriously abandoned.
The powerful kings built many impressive monuments and the society developed a sophisticated artistic style.
The Maya were a Mesoamerican civilization that developed in modern day Mexico, Guatemala, Belize, El Salvador and Honduras.
Copán is located in western Honduras, very close to the border of Guatemala, which was at the far southeastern end of the Mesoamerican cultural region.
Maya mask. Stucco frieze from Placeres, Campeche. Museo Nacional de Antropologia. View Item.
The “Main Group” (pictured above) includes impressive temples, plazas, and step-pyramids, as well as carefully crafted sculptures and stelae.
In 1980, Copán was recognized for it’s unique cultural value and designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The Acropolis was the raised royal complex at the heart of the ancient city and included the East and West Courts.
In the nearby “Sepulturas Group”, there are a number of elite residences and tombs.
In front of you is the iconic ball court, or tlachtli, where the people of Mesoamerica played their favorite sport.
It was played with a rubber ball and may have been something similar to modern day racquetball.
In the ball game, players had to hit the rubber ball with only their hip.
The goal was to hit the ball at one of these carved stone macaw heads so hard they broke off!
You can see a collection of the carved macaw heads in the sculpture museum.
Nearby the ballcourt is one of the most impressive and unique monuments, the Hieroglyphic Staircase.
Copán ranks among the most important of Maya sites for many reasons, but foremost among these is its vast number of hieroglyphic texts.
Copán's Hieroglyphic Stairway, is the longest and perhaps the most famous inscription in the Maya area.
At the bottom of the stairway is the 15th Ruler at Copán, K’ak’ Yipyaj Chan K’awil (Smoke Shell).
In front of him is an altar depicting the Cosmic Monster of the universe and behind him is the series of previous kings on the staircase watching over his works.
These stairs are covered in more than 1,250 individual glyphs, which constitute the longest known Mayan inscription.
The 63 remaining stairs lead up to one of the main temples.
The inscription is of great importance to historians because it gives the official history of Copán’s rulers. It was excavated in the 1890s and the stairs were reconstructed in the 1930-1940s.
Learn more about Click here to learn more about the Mayan language and how it was lost . . . and found again!
You can explore the stairs here to see the glyphs and rulers. When you're done, click Next, and we'll go inside!
Maya Temples were built outward like Russian-nesting dolls, generation after generation.
To understand them, archaeologists have created this elaborate series of tunnels inside that stretch over 5 kilometers!
Illustration of Temple 16 and Rosalila Temple created by the Asociación Copán.
These tunnels were excavated by archaeologists to understand the different layers of the temple buried within the exterior that we see today.
Cross section created by C. Rudy Larios V.
As a result, much of the story of Copán is told through years of study that the archaeologists uncovered in these tunnels, and we'll explore them in our tour.
This tunnel leads to the tomb of one of the Rulers of Copán, buried directly underneath the hieroglyphic stairway that we saw outside.
A major theme in the sculptures and monuments at Copán is peaceful succession of the rulers.
It's visible in the lineage of rulers on the stairway, on the altars, and inscriptions.
The Motmot Marker (above) shows the founder of the city, Yax K'uk' Mo, and his son who ruled after him. View the marker in the sculpture museum.
The peaceful transition between rulers was important for lives of the Maya people that lived at Copán--and still holds important lessons for us today.
We're getting close--the tomb is just down this tunnel.
Could you imagine being an archaeologist excavating these when they were first dug?
We've arrived at the tomb of the Ruler underneath the Hieroglyphic staircase!
He was one of the important Rulers in the lineage of the city.
This is the tomb chapel with a vaulted ceiling.
The Ruler was buried underneath here with his sacrifices and ritual offerings.
The Ruler was buried underneath these long stones.
Let's go inside and see.
This is where the body of the Ruler was buried.
The red cinnabar paint you see signifies royalty. It also is high in mercury and toxic to humans.
The Ruler was buried here with offerings of jade and maize. These were to ensure his passing into the afterlife.
For more information about the tomb and artifacts found here, you can read about the Tomb and Ruler underneath the Hieroglpyhic Stairway.
Keep exploring Copán at the Rosalila Temple and Temple 16 next!
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