Games were put on here for the aristocracy's entertainment.
Lonely Planet's must-see attractions
17.38 MILES
Set on a leveled hilltop, Xunantunich (shoo-nahn-too-neech) is one of Belize's most easily accessible and impressive Maya archaeological sites. Getting…
28.24 MILES
Once one of the most powerful cities in the entire Maya world, Caracol now lies enshrouded by thick jungle near the Guatemalan border, a 52-mile, roughly…
Green Iguana Conservation Project
22.78 MILES
On the lush Macal Valley grounds of the San Ignacio Resort Hotel, this excellent program collects and hatches iguana eggs, raising the reptiles until they…
7.38 MILES
This impressive sight is also impressively hard to get to, requiring 4x4-only driving or horses. Nakum was a significant port on the Holmul river, a…
0.14 MILES
The Classic Maya sites of Yaxhá, Nakum and El Naranjo form a triangle that is the basis for a national park covering more than 37,000 hectares and…
20.59 MILES
Remote El Pilar, about 7 miles north of Bullet Tree Falls, was occupied for at least 15 centuries, from the middle Preclassic Period (around 500 BC) to…
22.27 MILES
High atop a hill about a mile south of San Ignacio, Cahal Pech is the oldest-known Maya site in the Belize River valley, having been first settled between…
17.14 MILES
Created and managed by the Ruiz family, this highly unexpected avant-garde sculpture park is one of the hidden artistic gems of Western Belize. Set in 60…
Nearby El Petén attractions
0.06 MILES
A complex of palatial structures from which ۲á's aristocracy could watch the games going on in the ball court below.
0.09 MILES
An unremarkable part of the site, located to the east of the North Acropolis.
0.14 MILES
The Classic Maya sites of Yaxhá, Nakum and El Naranjo form a triangle that is the basis for a national park covering more than 37,000 hectares and…
4. Greater Astronomical Complex (Plaza F)
0.14 MILES
To the northwest of the site stands one of ۲á's most ancient constructions, the Greater Astronomical Complex (Plaza F). The arrangement includes an…
0.16 MILES
The trio of pyramidal temples at the North Acropolis are built atop older structures dating back to 100 BC. Comprising of seven platforms, the…
6. Lesser Astronomical Complex (Plaza C)
0.27 MILES
Plaza C, the first group of buildings you come to on entering ۲á, is one of a pair of astronomical observatories; the Greater Astronomical Complex …
0.3 MILES
This largely unexcavated complex consists of two identical pyramids facing each other across a lawn. Similar to one of the arrangements at Tikal, it is…
8. East Acropolis & Structure 216
0.3 MILES
Near the site entrance is the high point of ۲á (literally): Structure 216 in the East Acropolis. Also called the Temple of the Red Hands, because red…