18. Palenque. Dec 23, 2015. The furthest point reached in this Mexican trip, and a fitting climax. Palenque is an astounding site. The Palenque ruins date from ca. 226 BC to ca. 799 AD. After its decline, it was overgrown by the jungle, but has since been excavated and restored. it contains some of the finest architecture, sculpture, roof comb and bas-relief carvings that the Mayas produced. By 2005, the discovered area covered up to 2.5 km2, but it is estimated that less than 10% of the total area of the city is explored, leaving more than a thousand structures still covered by jungle.
Temple of the Inscriptions: The temple superstructure houses the second longest glyphic text known from the Maya world (the longest is the Hieroglyphic Stairway at Copan)
The Temple of the Cross
Temple of the Foliated Cross
Dec 23, 2015: Palenque Museum, Chiapas.