by Allan Taylor

Created on: January 17, 2009

Copan Ruins - Honduras

Copan is the southernmost of the ancient cities of the vast Mayan civilization that flourished in the Classic Period of 300 to 900 AD. Today, national boundaries put it in northern Honduras, some 12 kms from the border with Guatemala. It is a wonderful UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The ruins are on the outskirts of the old Mayan and colonial village of Copan Ruinas, which has a population about 6000. The terrain is hilly and forested. The town is quaint with cobblestone streets and white adobe buildings with orange roof tiles. There are more horses than cars in town. The main taxi transport around the place is by cute "put-put" 3-wheeler vehicles.

Although the ancient ruins are the main attraction, the Copan Valley provides the tourist with many additional activities such as horse riding, bird watching, hot springs, visits to the local Mayan communities and a coffee farm. Also, it is a favorite place to learn Spanish, buy textile handicrafts and local products, such as coffee and cigars.

The Kings of Copan make the House of Windsor seem very boring and commonplace - what exotic names they have! King Great Sun Lord Quetzal Macaw was the founder of the city, followed later by King Waterlily Jaguar, Moon Jaguar and revered Smoke Imix (Jaguar) who was a wise and powerful king and built Copan into a military stronghold around 690 AD.

Smoke Shell, the 15th king had commissioned Copan's most famous edifice, the Hierographic Stairway which climbs up a massive pyramid. The final touches to this amazing Mayan city were done by Smoke Shell's successor, Yax Pac (Rising Sun), who reigned from 763 to 820 AD when the population peaked at 20,000. After the death of Yax Pac the city soon declined into oblivion. By 1200 AD the city was deserted and reclaimed by the jungle.

It is not known for sure why this happened but one can speculate. Factors of importance may have been over population, depletion of the soils and dwindling food supply, infectious diseases, and drought.

It was not until 1841 that an archeologist, John Stephens, brought the ruins of Copan to world attention. Excavation and restoration of the site began and continues to this day.

Why is Copan so special?

The jungle setting is superb. Massive trees still grow on the sides of temple pyramids, on walls and in the plazas. It is easy to imagine the site 100 years ago completely smothered by dense vegetation. Monkeys scuttle about and gaudy Macaw parrots watch the tourist unfazed.

An enormous amount of

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