Copan, Honduras
We awoke this morning in Puerto Cortez, Honduras, ready to embark on an unforgettable adventure to visit one of the archeological wonders of our world, and leave our “home” away from home, the Sea Voyager, for a full two days.
We are at present in the heart of the Maya land, which historically stretched over approximately 34 000 km of what are now the western parts of Honduras and El Salvador, all of Guatemala and Belize and much of southern Mexico. The Classic Period of the Maya dated from 250AD to 900AD, and was considered the golden age of this magnificent civilization, a time when around 60 or 70 principal city-states were formed in the area, each one controlling an area of approximately 2500 km and home to a population of maybe 2-3 million people. Many scholars believe that these cities were probably united in larger political entities called regional states, which had their seats of power in the principal centers of the Maya world, one of the most important of which was Copan. Although Tikal has traditionally been considered the largest of these cities when considering population size, Copan was the most advanced in the development of many of the arts – it has been said that if Tikal was like New York, then Copan was the Paris of the Mayan world! Most of these important Mayan cities had their own emblem glyphs, and in the case of Copan it was the well-endowed leaf-nosed bat. In the Maya “Popol Vuh legend, the lords of Xibalba, the Underworld, demanded that the hero twins (creators of the world) survive the night in the terrible “house of the bats”.
After a long but fascinating drive through the beautiful Hondurian countryside, we entered the Copan Valley, which in its prime was home to an enormous 26 000 inhabitants. Our first stop was at a site named “Las Sepulturas”, just to the northeast of the principal group and consisting in approximately 40 residential compounds – the most complete sample of urban domestic architecture for the ancient Mayas. We then continued on to the main archeological site, where a delicious picnic awaited us.
The afternoon was spent wandering through the majestic principal group, consisting in the Great Plaza and the Acropolis and such wonders as the famous hieroglyphic stairway, the longest inscribed text in the New World. Our two local guides weaved tales of the marvels of this spectacular area, whilst we let the feelings of awe and wonder at this great and mysterious civilization flood through us.
We awoke this morning in Puerto Cortez, Honduras, ready to embark on an unforgettable adventure to visit one of the archeological wonders of our world, and leave our “home” away from home, the Sea Voyager, for a full two days.
We are at present in the heart of the Maya land, which historically stretched over approximately 34 000 km of what are now the western parts of Honduras and El Salvador, all of Guatemala and Belize and much of southern Mexico. The Classic Period of the Maya dated from 250AD to 900AD, and was considered the golden age of this magnificent civilization, a time when around 60 or 70 principal city-states were formed in the area, each one controlling an area of approximately 2500 km and home to a population of maybe 2-3 million people. Many scholars believe that these cities were probably united in larger political entities called regional states, which had their seats of power in the principal centers of the Maya world, one of the most important of which was Copan. Although Tikal has traditionally been considered the largest of these cities when considering population size, Copan was the most advanced in the development of many of the arts – it has been said that if Tikal was like New York, then Copan was the Paris of the Mayan world! Most of these important Mayan cities had their own emblem glyphs, and in the case of Copan it was the well-endowed leaf-nosed bat. In the Maya “Popol Vuh legend, the lords of Xibalba, the Underworld, demanded that the hero twins (creators of the world) survive the night in the terrible “house of the bats”.
After a long but fascinating drive through the beautiful Hondurian countryside, we entered the Copan Valley, which in its prime was home to an enormous 26 000 inhabitants. Our first stop was at a site named “Las Sepulturas”, just to the northeast of the principal group and consisting in approximately 40 residential compounds – the most complete sample of urban domestic architecture for the ancient Mayas. We then continued on to the main archeological site, where a delicious picnic awaited us.
The afternoon was spent wandering through the majestic principal group, consisting in the Great Plaza and the Acropolis and such wonders as the famous hieroglyphic stairway, the longest inscribed text in the New World. Our two local guides weaved tales of the marvels of this spectacular area, whilst we let the feelings of awe and wonder at this great and mysterious civilization flood through us.
