Parque Arqueológico Kaminaljuyú

Lonely Planet review

The Parque Arqueológico Kaminaljuyú, with remnants of one of the first important cities in the Mayan region, is just west of 23a Av and is some 4km west of the city center. At its peak, from about 400 BC to AD 100, ancient Kaminaljuyú had thousands of inhabitants and scores of temples built on earth mounds, and probably dominated much of highland Guatemala.

Large-scale carvings found here were the forerunners of Classic Mayan carving, and Kaminaljuyú had a literate elite before anywhere else in the Mayan world.

The city fell into ruin before being reoccupied around AD 400 by invaders from Teotihuacán in central Mexico, who rebuilt it in Teotihuacán's talud-tablero style, with buildings stepped in alternating vertical (tablero) and sloping (talud) sections. Unfortunately, most of Kaminaljuyú has been covered by urban sprawl: the parque arqueológico is but a small portion of the ancient city and even here the remnants consist chiefly of grassy mounds. To the left from the entrance is La Acrópolis, where you can inspect excavations of a ball court and talud-tablero buildings from AD 450 to 550. The best carvings from the site are in the new Museo Nacional de Arqueología y Etnología.You can get here by bus No 35 from 4a Av, Zona 1, but check that the bus is going to the ruinas de Kaminaljuyú (kah-mih-nahl-huh- yuh ) - not all do.