Bonampak Archeological Site

How We Got There

We based ourselves at Palenque, taking a private guided trip to this site and Yaxchilán along the Guatemalan border.   This site is about 100 miles from Palenque along a recently improved road, and can be seen on a day trip.  If you want to see both sites, a two-day trip with overnight camping in the jungle is recommended.

About the Site

Bonampak was discovered in 1946, and has some of the best-preserved color murals at any Maya site.  It is useful to bring a flashlight to see these in the best light.  Non-flash photography is permitted, but no video is allowed without special permission.  A visit to this site requires accompaniment of a  guide from the Lacandón Maya on whose property the site is situated.  The site is in the midst of a tropical rainforest, with a small plaza surrounded by a group of buildings.  It has elaborate stelae, and is still used by the Lacandón  as a ceremonial site.   This site provided some of the first evidence that the Maya waged war on their neighbors.

What's There

Click on any image to see it full size.

	One of the frescos in Building 1. These were painted on wet limestone cement with more than 270 figures.  The frescos show the story of a battle and a sacrificial ceremony.  The first room has jaguar-skin robed lords with elaborate headdresses and ornate scepters, mustering their warriors for battle while musicians and dancers parade before them.  The middle room shows the actual skirmish, with a lot of blood and brutality.  A second fresco in the same room shows prisoners being judged by the lord of Bonampak.  The third room shows a prisoner being sacrificed by being beheaded.
	The stairway to the pyramid.  The steps are not in a very good state of preservation, and care should be exercised in climbing them.
	Our Lacandón guide - Baltazár, an 11 year old boy, fluent in Spanish and Maya dialects.

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