Tikal (redirected from North Acropolis)

Tikal (tēkäl`), ruined city of the Classic Period of the Maya, N central Petén, Guatemala. The largest and possibly the oldest of the Maya cities, Tikal consists of nine groups of courts and plazas built on hilly land above surrounding swamps (which may have been lakes in former times) and interconnected by bridges and causeways. The main civic and religious center of the city covers about 500 acres (200 hectares). Temples and palaces rise above the plazas. The design of the buildings is for the most part monumental and static and utilizes harmonious combinations of solid masses. The tallest structure, a temple, is 229 ft (70 m) high. With a backdrop of lush tropical vegetation the abandoned city is an impressive sight.

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Tikal

Ancient Maya city, northern Guatemala. First occupied as a small village in a tropical rainforest (c. 900–300 BC), it grew into an important ceremonial centre. It flourished c. AD 600–900, when its great plazas, pyramids, and palaces were built and when Maya art flowered in monumental sculpture. At its height it was the largest urban centre in the southern Maya lowlands; the core city had a population of perhaps 10,000 residents with an outlying population of about 50,000. Its main structures covered about 1 sq mi (2.5 sq km). It was abandoned by the 10th century. Major excavation began in 1956; it is now a central part of Tikal National Park, which was designated a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1979.