The Mayans: Notable Cities

El Mirador (All Facts)

• Mayan City with the Tigre and Danta Pyramids

Tikal (All Facts)

• Early Mayan City-state that considered of Maya’s first known political rulers

• Was one of the main administrative and religious towns of Mayan civilization

Palenque (All Facts)

• Mayan religious center

• Was one of the main administrative and religious towns of Mayan civilization

• Located in this city were the

  • Temple of the Inscriptions

  • Temple of the Cross

Yaxchilan (All Facts)

Copan (All Facts)

• Was one of the main administrative and religious towns of Mayan civilization

Quirigua (All Facts)

• Was one of the main administrative and religious towns of Mayan civilization

Uxmal (All Facts)

• Was one of the main administrative and religious towns of Mayan civilization

Chichen Itza (All Facts)

• City famed as the center of Mayan civilization

• Re-established by Toltec exiles from Tula in the 900s

• Known for its many monumental buildings including

  • The Temple of the Jaguars

  • The Tmeple of the Warriors

  • the pyramid-shaped Castillo

  • the Caracol

  • the sacred well

  • the vast ballcourt

• City which was sacked and burnt by Hunac Ceel, the ruthless and ambitious Mayapan King

  • All of the buildings listed above were deserted

• Toltec city which declined as it was defeated by the Chichimecs and then abandoned

Tayasal (All Facts)

• Capital of Mayan civilization following the destruction, sacking, and desertion of Chichen Itza

• It was based in the wilderness around Lake Peten Itza, where the last survivors of Mayan civilization maintained a precarious independence around the namesake city