Diario las Américas., 1958-07-26
Know thy
Neighboti
By ANTONIO RUIZ

the Honduran capital, Tegucigalpa,
the quickest and easiest way to
reach Copan, and its famous ruins
is by plane. There are flights sew
eral times a week, which require
about two hours, because of stops
in several small communities. How
ever, a group can charter a plane
at quite reasonable cost per pas
senger and the larger the group is
the less the cost to each. Since it
is only forty five minutes direct
flight to Copan, it is possible to
visit the ruins and return to the
capital on the same day, which will
certainly be a memorable day for
anyone visiting Honduras.
Copan was inhabited, according
to the range of dates found in
scribed on monuments in the city
from the first century BIC. to the
sixth century AID. 1t was the sec
ond largest city in the vast Old
Empire of the Mayas, and appears
to have been the cultural center
of the whole region. Then, in the
seventh century, the people of the
Old Empire left this region and
migrated to the North, to Yucatan
Mexico, and the magnificent cities
they had built were left to the
silence of the jungle, which gra-
dually enveloped them. No one
knows why the Mayas moved away
Perhaps it was famine caused by
depletion of their agricultural
lands or perhaps an epidemic;
some have suggested civil war,
others earthquakes, but the mys-
terry remains unsolved. Whatever
the reason, the Old Empire came
to an end, and only the enigmatic
ruins of its cities remain.
Excavation of Copan was begun
in 1885, and has been carried on
ever since, for a time by the Pea
body Museum of Harvard Univer-
sity, and later by the Carnegie In
stitution of Washington. Today
you can walk through this once po-
pulous city and see some Of the
finest examples of the art and ar
chitecture of the Maya civilization.
From the field where the plane
lands, there is about one mile to
go by car to Copan. Before making
the trip, however, it is better to
study the model of the city at the
National Museum in Tegucigalpa.
In this way, it is easy to recognize
and find your way through the
spacious courts, temples, palaces,
and stairways of the city.
At the Great Plaza M is trans
ported back into another age. On
the East rises the Acropolis, and
the other sides are surrounded by
stepped walls and platforms.
About the plaza stand striking
carved stone pillars, called s~telae,
representing personages or gods,
adorned with lavish decorations,
and each bearing a date inscribed
in Maya numerals. Stelae like this
were erected in all the Maya cities
at regular intervals, usually every
years, and constitutes a
glorious record of the development
of Magyar art.
In a corner of the Plaza is the
ball court, with seats on either
side; one tries to imagine as it
would have been fifteen centuries
ago, alive with players and specta-
tors. The beautiful hieroglific
stairway, adorned with glyphs
from top to bottom, takes you
from the plaza up onto the Aero
polls, or upper level of the city.
Two large pyramids, serving as
bases for temples, rise from this
and there are several sunk.
en- courts. Everywhere there are
examples of the remarkable stone
carvings of the Mayas, huge heads
of animals, representations of gods
and hieroglyphs. A small museum
near the ruins contains many arti-
Giles which aid further in evoking
the life of the ancient inhabitants,
with the enchantment of their ci.
v~ilizatin which grew, flourished,
and then departed from what is
now q remote and, until recently,
inaccessible region.
Spanish Version Pag. 3.