FlyingMonk

Honduras

It is hard not to notice the power this city had. Copan is so ridden with sculptures and large constructions that even now it looks like a large city. It used to be one of the largest city of the Maya World, at parity with Caracol and Tikal, located at the edge of the empire and surrounded by non-Maya people. The intricate sculpted standing stellas describe the history and the rulers’ dynasties that gives us a pretty good idea about what happen in the past. Apparently the city was established as a capital by a dynasty from Tikal that wanted to create a friendly power center here. That happened at the middle of the 5^th century and it lasted under various rulers till around the middle of the 8^th centuries when the neighboring Quirigua conquered the city. No matter that the following rulers still developed the it, the city passed in oblivion around the 9^th century, the population declining considerably.