Tikal was a major city of the Maya. At least 10,000 people lived within its six square miles. Tikal had 3000 temples, palaces, shrines, ceremonial platforms, residences, ball courts, terraces, and plazas.

Tikal is located in the middle of Tikal National Park, a wildlife preserve covering 222 square miles and the first park of its kind in Central America

The park is a magnificent jungle and wildlife preserve. Some of the rainforest trees that grow in the park are Spanish cedar, ceiba (a tree sacred to the Maya), zapotes, mahogany, and chicle, which is an ingredient in chewing gum.

Living among the ruins are groups of spider monkeys and hundreds of species of birds, including hawks, hummingbirds, parrots, and golden turkeys. Nearby are jaguars, pumas, ocelots, small deer, and many other animals, some of which are endangered.

 

In the main ceremonial area there are 200 stone monuments, known as stelae. Stelae were elaborately carved with glyphs, a form of writing, and other images.

Stelae were mostly carved in the southern portions of Maya lands, especially around Tikal. 

 

Nearly 100,000 tools, ceremonial objects, personal ornaments, and other items have been discovered here. They tell many stories about the daily Mayan life. Their ceramics were especially beautiful.

In Tikal, smaller homes were arranged in clusters around a central plaza (“Great Plaza”). Most people were buried beneath the houses they had lived in. Along with the bodies, ritual objects that seemed to have daily life uses were discovered. 

The Great Plaza is surrounded by the two largest temples. Nearby is a cluster of temples known as the North Acropolis.

One temple is called the Giant Jaguar. Built in AD 870, it towers 145 feet above the Great Plaza. Many tombs are beneath and inside the structure. Other groups are called the Lost World Complex, the Plaza of the Seven Temples, the Twin Pyramid Complex, and the Acropolis.

FUN FACT: Tikal was used as a model for Star Wars.

 

(Adapted from source)