Guatemala´s "place of voices" is the largest of the ancient Mayan cities of the Classic period. Its monumental scale can still be admired, transporting us back in time to the era between 250 and 909 when it became one of the main cultural centers of the Mayan civilisation which today spans four other countries besides Guatemala (Belize, El Salvador, Honduras, and Mexico).
It has more than 3,000 structures spread across an area of 16 square kilometres (just over six sq. miles) within Tikal National Park, in the Petén jungle in the country´s north (from Guatemala City, a 3½hour flight to Flores, then about an hour-and-a-half drive). At its peak, one hundred thousand people lived here, but it was abandoned at the end of the 10th century for reasons that remain unknown. Forgotten, it remained hidden by impenetrable jungle until 1848. More than 4,000 structures have been cataloged, but most remain unexcavated. The legends are so powerful today that they send shivers down your spine. The sacred book Popol Vuh says that the first four Maya were created from corn paste and that the trees breathe the breath of the people who live underground.
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