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Copán -
Honduras
Copán is situated far to the southeast of the
Mayan Empire in what is now Honduras. In the country
beyond there are no other large cities with vaulted
buildings and sculptured monuments. There is nothing
to suggest that it was a frontier city, no fortifications
to indicate that its relationship with its neighbours
to the south and east were anything but friendly, and
there is little in its art that suggests foreign influence.
If anything, the art of Copán surpasses that
of the Petén and is strikingly individual, as
if the city were itself the nucleus of a cultural subdivision
of the Old Empire. In most Petén cities architectural
decoration was executed in stucco, and sculpture is
largely confined to stelae and altars, whereas at Copán
stone carvings, adorned every important building.
 As
if jealous of this superb man made creation, all the
most violent forces of nature seem to have conspired
to destroy it. Even in historic times, earthquakes have
shaken the ruins, and now the beautifully carved fragments
of its buildings lie scattered on the slopes of its
pyramids like the pieces of a gigantic jigsaw puzzle.
The Copán River has changed course to devour
the east side of the Acropolis. It has destroyed entirely
several buildings and has washed away thousands of tons
of stone, leaving exposed a vertical cut a hundred and
eighty-five feet in height.
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