New access to remote Mayan ruins
A Reuters report says that Guatemala will create a tourist park at the ruins of an ancient Maya city that is home to one of the world’s largest pyramids, the country’s president said.
The Maya built soaring temples and elaborate palaces in Central America and southern Mexico before mysteriously abandoning their cities around 900 AD.
Recently elected Guatemalan President Alvaro Colom said the park would give tourists access to the Mirador archaeological site, which contains hundreds of buildings that have been reclaimed by the Peten jungle in the north of the country.
“Among the structures is the world’s most massive pyramid and I think it even beats the Egyptians by around a meter,” Colom said.
The Mirador site is currently accessible only by helicopter or a two-day hike through the jungle.
Colom said the site was about three times the size of the country’s famous Tikal ruins, which are a major draw for foreign tourists.
Colom, who announced the plans for the park in his inauguration speech, said the park would promote development in the region overrun by poachers and drug smugglers.
The collapse of the Maya, who dominated the region for some 2000 years as accomplished scientists and urban builders, is one of the great mysteries of archaeology.
Scholars have blamed the demise of Maya on everything from disease to over-farming, incessant warfare or climate change that led to prolonged drought.
A Report by The Mole
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