Palenque

Palenque is a Maya city-state in the Mexican state of Chiapas, near the Usumacinta River and about 150 metres above sea level, next to the modern town of Palenque. Its ruins date from roughly the third century BC to about 799 AD, and its ancient name in the Itza language was Lakamha, meaning big water. Though smaller than Tikal, Chichen Itza or Copan, it holds some of the finest Maya architecture, sculpture and relief carving. Hieroglyphic inscriptions on its monuments let historians reconstruct a long ruling dynasty and the city's rivalry with Calakmul and Tonina. Its best known ruler was Kinich Janaab Pakal, called Pacal the Great, whose tomb lies in the Temple of the Inscriptions. Less than a tenth of the city is estimated to have been explored.