woensdag 4 mei 2011

Temples of the Maya

Located in Central American, The Maya society is one of the well-known civilizations of the Western Hemisphere. The first traces of the Mayan civilization date back to what is called the Preclassic period around 1800 BC. City states were formed by around 400 BC - to 100 AD. Mayan states gained their highest population numbers and large-scale construction during 250 to 900 AD. The most remarkable Mayan ruins from this phase are the temples that were completed in every Maya state of great importance.

Almost all of the Maya cities went into a downswing between 900-1000 AD and were subsequently abandoned. There are numerous possible causes for their failure including environmental problems such as soil depletion, erosion and water shortages. Catastrophes such as earthquakes, sicknesses and conquests by other neighboring civilizations could also be the reason of the decline.

Today the Mayan ruins are located in the countries of Belize, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Mexico. A couple of of the most exciting Mayan ruins are:

Caracol Belize
Caracol is most important Maya site in Belize. It was once one of the greatest Maya cities, covering an enormous area. During its zenith around 650 AD it had a population of about 150,000 inhabitants, which is greater than the population of the capital of Belize at present. 43 ft, Canaa ,meaning Sky Palace, is the highest building at the site and is also still the highest building in the country even though it is more than a thousand years old.

Chichen Itza Mexico
Chichen Itza is the most well known of the Mayan sites in the Yucatan Peninsula and one of Mexico’s most visited tourist spots. The most renowned structure of the Mayan city is the pyramid of El Castillo. The style and design of the pyramid has a specific astronomical meaning. Every side of the pyramid has 91 steps, which combined with the mutual step at the peak, add up to 365, the amount of days in a year. Other interesting structures of the Mayan ruins include the Great Ballcourt and El Caracol, a disk-shaped building which served as an astronomical observatory.

Coba, Mexico
Coba in Mexico was a vast historic Maya city that was the habitat to around 60,000 Mayans at its zenith. Many of its monuments were made between 500 and 900 AD. The Mayan site features a few large pyramids, the highest, the Nohoch Mul pyramid is about 138 ft tall. Today only a small portion of Coba has been cleared from the forest and recovered by archaeologists.

Calakmul Mexico
Calakmul is a Archaeological site covered inside the rain forests of the Mexican state of Campeche. It is one of the largest Mayan cities ever discovered with over 6,500 structures discovered. Calakmul’s 180 foot tall pyramid is certainly the biggest temple at the location. Like many other Mayan pyramids the size of the temple was boosted by building upon an older existing building to reach its existing size.

Tikal Guatemala
Set in the forest of north Guatemala, Tikal is one of the most breathtaking of the Mayan sites. Renovated structures are sprinkled around the city while several more Mayan ruins continue to be hidden by the jungle. Tikal was the largest Mayan city during the Classic Period with over 100,000 people. Tikal includes six gigantic temple pyramids. At 72 meters or 230 feet, Temple IV is the tallest monument in Tikal. The top of the building features a wonderful panorama from above the jungle.

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