Palenque is perhaps the most famous of the ancient Mayan cities. It is located in the northern part of the Mexican state of Chiapas. The spurs of the Chiapas Mountains here form a natural plateau about 70 m high. It was on this plateau in the 7th century. built by Palenque - Nachan, "Serpent City" of the Maya.
In Spanish Palenque means "palisade", "hedge". This huge Mayan temple center in 1759 was accidentally discovered by a military patrol, lost in the Chiapas jungle. But only twenty-five years later, the colonial administration sent the first expedition to study the city, which gave brilliant results.
The ruins of Palenque have a special charm. It is the most beautiful Mayan city of the Old Kingdom era. The Maya Indians chose an extremely successful place for its construction. Immediately in several places above the forest thickets, majestic buildings rise like white ghosts: the square tower of the palace of the rulers of Palenque, similar to the bell tower of a medieval cathedral, graceful twin temples on high pyramidal foundations - the Temple of the Sun, the Temple of the Cross. The Temple of the Leafy Cross and of course the magnificent Temple of the Inscriptions. Literally a few meters behind the pyramids and the palace, mountains covered with dense greenery rise, serving as a natural backdrop for this ancient Indian city. Parrots of incredibly bright colors sit right on the steps of ancient sanctuaries and palaces. And from the tops of the white pyramids, a magnificent view of the sea of impenetrable forests opens,stretching for more than a hundred kilometers, up to the Campeche Bay …
The beauty of the landscape and the surprisingly harmonious combination of architecture with the surrounding landscape are noted by everyone who has been here. Here is how the famous French traveler Michel Pessel describes his first meeting with the city: “The majestic white and gray buildings on the mountain ledge rose above the sea of greenery, and yet the jungle did not recede from the city, running towards it along the slopes of the surrounding mountains. This picture in such a wild, deserted place made an irresistible impression on me. The ruins generally conceal a special romantic charm, and the ruins of Palenque, appearing so unexpectedly among the endless forest ocean, were simply amazing. Here I saw the mystery of centuries, the mystery of a civilization that died and disappeared, but surprisingly continues to live in these grandiose buildings - witnesses of the former power and glory.
In ancient times, Palenque was, apparently, a large religious center. Its history goes back nearly ten centuries. This city has existed since the end of the 1st millennium BC. to the end of the 1st millennium AD It flourished in the 7th-8th centuries. During this time, the architects of Palenque erected tall pyramids topped with graceful temples, and built stone dams across the ravines separating one part of the city from another. From the tops of the pyramids and observatory turrets, the priests studied the firmament and penetrated the secrets of the universe. The sculptors have embodied in stone amazing images of Mayan gods and rulers, priests and warriors. These silent witnesses of the past saw a great city flourish and then. how, over time, the creations of their disappeared creators fell into the power of the all-consuming jungle …
At the end of the 1st millennium A. D. internal troubles and invasions of warlike tribes led to the death of the city. Its silent ruins were reliably hidden by an impenetrable forest thicket. Palenque had to be rediscovered in our days. And it was done by travelers and scientists from many countries of Europe and America.
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The narrow stream Otolum divides the city almost in half. In ancient times, a special aqueduct brought its waters to the very palace of the rulers of Palenque. The shallow stream was enclosed in a large stone pipe. To the east of Otolum, on the grassy hills at the foot of the Tumbata mountain range, which blocks the southern and western approaches to the city, rise several magnificent white pyramids. All their architecture seems to be turned to heavenly deities. At the tops of the pyramids there are small temples with rich geometric ornaments on the pediments. All or almost all Palenque buildings are decorated with reliefs. Mayan carvers created them here on an unprecedented scale: reliefs are placed on platforms and pyramids, at the base of temples and on stairs, on pillars and walls, on friezes and ridges. They are executed with the harsh realism that distinguishes Palenque art from the art of other Mayan cities.
The center of the city is formed by four pyramids, among which the Palace of the Rulers stands out - a vast (104 x 80 m) building erected on an artificial platform. It is a massive building with many rooms located around four courtyards recessed into the ground. A wide staircase led to the palace from the north.
The walls of the palace are decorated with a whole gallery of reliefs. Some of them are devoted to military victories: captured opponents sit on the ground, pitiful and unarmed, powerless before the might of the rulers of the mighty Palenke. Other reliefs depict the rulers of the city, frozen in sternly solemn poses, in intricate feather headdresses and ritual clothes. Some of them hold wands decorated with feathers in their hands - signs of power. Submissive subjects sit at their feet. Other characters appear in frenzied dance poses: their feet, shod with sandals, fly off the ground, their bodies are tilted forward, their outstretched arms are stretched out to the statues of idols, their mouths are open - they are in ecstasy. In some places on the reliefs traces of blue and red paint have survived, which somehow covered the gray-white images
The palace is adjoined by a five-story tower, completely unusual for Mayan architecture. Apparently it served as an astronomical observatory; on the top floor, a stone bench is still preserved, from which the astronomer priest sat, observing the movement of the heavenly bodies. The staircase leading to the observatory starts only on the second floor. In order to get from the first floor to the second, the Palenque astronomers probably had to use an attached ladder.
In the vicinity of the palace there are three pyramids, on the tops of which were the main sanctuaries of the city: the Temple of the Sun, the Temple of the Cross and the Temple of the Leaf Cross. These temporary names are derived from the main plots of the altar slabs inside the sanctuaries.
The wide facade of the Temple of the Sun, built on a low five-step pyramid, is divided by three entrances. The columns of the main entrance are decorated with hieroglyphic inscriptions: There is a sanctuary inside the temple. On its back wall is a large, well-preserved bas-relief of the sun, depicted as a shield pierced by two crossed spears. On the right and left sides of him, on the bodies of defeated slaves, there are two priests offering sacrifices. The bas-relief is complemented by a number of hieroglyphs, which can be used to determine the date of construction of the temple - 642.
The same date is preserved on the relief that adorns the Temple of the Cross. The cross, which forms the center of the entire composition, is a symbol of the sacred Mayan plant - corn. In the upper part of the relief is depicted the quetzal bird, which was deified by the Indians of Central America. Just like in the Temple of the Sun”, and here are depicted two priests making a sacrifice.
The third of the Palenque shrines, the Temple of the Deciduous Cross, takes its name from a magnificently executed bas-relief. Its main motive is a cross, from which leaves, reminiscent of flames, bloom upward and to the sides. A stylized human face grows from the tip of the top sheet. The horizontal bars of the cross are also decorated with human heads, only of smaller sizes. But on both sides, hieroglyphic inscriptions stretch in four rows.
A special place among the ancient monuments of Palenque is occupied by the legendary Temple of the Inscriptions, which impressed with its greatness its discoverers - J. L. Stephens and F. Catherwood. In clear weather, the white-stone pyramid of the temple is visible from the plain for many kilometers. The Temple of the Inscriptions got its name from the abundance of hieroglyphic inscriptions carved on its walls, stairs and columns. The walls of the temple were once decorated with huge slabs, completely covered with numerous bas-reliefs of extraordinary expressiveness and realism. Researchers have found several dates among the temple inscriptions, one of which is 692.
The Temple of the Inscriptions is a pyramid unique to pre-Columbian America. It simultaneously served as a mausoleum, where the ruler of this city-state rested, just as was customary in Ancient Egypt. This discovery was made in 1952 by the Mexican archaeologist Alberto Ruz Luilier.
For four years, starting in 1949, Alberto Ruz Luilier, guided by intuition and scientific experience, went to unravel the secret hidden under the pyramid. At the time, the scientist was engaged in the restoration of the Temple of the Inscriptions. While exploring the interior of the pyramid, Alberto Ruz accidentally drew attention to one of the stone slabs protruding above the floor level. When the slab was lifted, a narrow staircase opened underneath, covered with stones. At a depth of 18 m, there was a giant crypt in which, under a 5-ton tombstone, lay the remains of the "halach vinik", the supreme ruler of Palenque, deified during his lifetime. This discovery of the tomb of "American Tutankhamun" was of exceptional significance. Until then, it is believed that the American pyramids, unlike the Egyptian ones, are not tombs.
Outside the city center are the Temple of the Earl, the Temple of the Lion and dozens of other structures. The true size of Palenque is still unknown, as the ruins of many ancient buildings are hidden in dense jungle thickets. The ruins of houses and sanctuaries are found along 7.5 kilometers.
Palenque was completely abandoned by the Maya, apparently in the late 900s. The ruins of some of her buildings have preserved traces of the forcible seizure of the city by foreigners, but the most impressive structures of Palenque remained intact. They became a monument to the creative genius of the Maya who created the greatest of all civilizations in pre-Columbian America.