Yaxchilán

Or Yax·chi·lan,

[yahs-chee-lahn, yahsh-]

noun

1. the ruins of an ancient Mayan city, in Chiapas state, Mexico, famous for its many carved lintels depicting ceremonial and military scenes.

Example Sentences

For centuries, they made pilgrimages to the ancient Maya city of Yaxchilán near the Mexico-Guatemala border, which they consider the home of the creator god Hachakyum.

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But they stopped in the 1980s, when more archaeologists and tourists began to visit Yaxchilán and practices such as burning incense inside the temples were prohibited, Lozada Toledo says.

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Small and scrappy, Sak Tz’i’ — White Dog, in the language of ancient Mayan inscriptions — was the sometime ally, sometime vassal, sometime foe of several of the largest and most powerful regional players, including Piedras Negras in what is now Guatemala and Bonampak, Palenque, Tonina and Yaxchilan in present-day Chiapas.

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The boats normally take ecotourists to Mayan ruins, such as the spectacular site of Yaxchilán in Mexico, an hour’s boat ride from Frontera Corozal, a small river settlement.

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As drought and warfare tore apart the social and political fabric and the Spanish conquistadors began claiming Maya land for plantations and subjugating Maya people to work on them, many residents of storied stone cities such as Yaxchilan and Palenque fled to the countryside in search of a better life.

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