Gran Plaza

The Gran Plaza, with loads of stelae in front of its buildings (Estructura V has the best ones), makes a good first stop on a tour of the ruins, and climbing the enormous Estructura II, at the south side of the plaza, is a must. Each of this pyramid's sides is 140m long, giving it a footprint of just under 2 hectares - one of the largest known Maya structures.

After a good climb you'll reach a temple occupying what appears to be the top of the building, but you have to go around it to the left to reach the real apex. From here, more than 50m above the forest floor, you'll enjoy magnificent views over the jungle canopy to the photographable Estructura I to the southeast and north across the plaza to Estructura VII. Facing southwest, you'll be looking toward the Maya city El Mirador, in neighboring Guatemala, and with the aid of binoculars you may be able to spot that site's towering El Tigre pyramid. Work was under way to create a tunnel to a frieze in an inner chamber of the pyramid. The tunnel was slated for completion in 2008. A path on the left (east) side of Estructura II leads past the palatial Estructura III, with a dozen rooms atop a raised platform. Archaeologists found a tomb inside the 5th-century structure that contained the body of a male ruler of Calakmul surrounded by offerings of jade, ceramics and shell beads, and wearing not one but three jade mosaic masks (one each on his face, chest and belt). Walking south you come to Estructura I, Calakmul's second great pyramid, which is about as tall as Estructura II. (Lundell named the site Calakmul, Maya for 'two adjacent mounds,' in reference to the pair of then-unexcavated pyramids that dominated the site.) The steep climb pays off handsomely with more top-of-the-world views.