At the height of the Mayan empire 1,400 years ago, the city of Tikal in modern-day Guatemala was a bustling metropolis the size of London during the Middle Ages. But when the Spanish conquistadors ...

Whether it's Tulum with its breathtaking ocean view, Cobá with its jungle setting and climbable pyramid, or Chichén Itzá with its grand architecture, each offers a unique yet equally impressive ...

A German tourist was arrested in Mexico for desecrating the sacred Mayan temple, Chichen Itza, during a bi-annual 'Kukulkan's ...

Chichén Itzá, "the mouth of the well of the Itzás," was likely the most important city in the Yucatán from the 10th to the 12th centuries. Evidence indicates that the site was first settled as ...

When most people think of ancient Maya civilization, they imagine godlike kings building towering pyramids and reveling in bloody human sacrifice. But commoners also played a significant role in the ...

This story appears in the September 2016 issue of National Geographic magazine. Your National Geographic Society membership helped fund recent excavations at Holmul and La Corona, Guatemala.

FOR DECADES, scholars have argued about what caused the so-called Maya collapse. Several million Maya lived in southeastern Mexico and northern Central America in the early 800s. A hundred years later ...

The Maya civilisation lasted a long time. In Britain at this time, Stonehenge was constructed, the Romans invaded, and the Tudors ruled England. Image caption, Maya people were very clever.

A prime example of a Mayan sanctuary of the classical period, Palenque was at its height between AD 500 and 700, when its influence extended throughout the basin of the Usumacinta River. The elegance ...

El Gran Museo del Mundo Maya de Mérida translates to The Great Museum of the Mayan World of Mérida. With more than 1,160 artifacts on display, the museum combines ancient textiles, religious ...