National Geographic History - USA (2022-05 & 2022-06)

INTERIOR FRESCOES Giorgio Vasari was commissioned by Cosimo de’ Medici to decorate the inside of the dome. The frescoes, which d ...

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Sid ew ay s^ t hru st Wo od en be lt St air ca se Le ve Leve l^1 l^2 Le ve l^3 Ve rti ca l^ br ick ar ch Ou ter ca p Inn er ca p ...

Likely placement of scaffolding At the top, the wall reaches a maximum angle of 60 degrees Brick Stone Vertical bricks are arran ...

FERNANDO BAPTISTA/NGS SCAL A, (^) FL OREN CE The Lantern In 1436 the cathedral was finally consecrated. But there remained the c ...

PYR AMIDS IN THE JUNGLE The Great Palace (left) and the Temple of the Inscriptions stand surrounded by the mighty Lacandón Jungl ...

As Palenque rose in the seventh century, so too did its elegant stepped pyramids. Overseen by Pakal the Great, the city’s distin ...

D eep in the jungle in Mexico’s state of Chiapas stands the ruins of a Maya city known today as Palenque. Surrounded by a thick ...

BOOK IN STONE Topped with its distinctive Maya-style roof comb, the Temple of the Inscriptions was built in the late seventh cen ...

THE PALENQUE COMPLEX The city was structured around the palace, a large central building, which was the seat of power of the rul ...

NORTHWESTERN ZONE 6 GREAT PALACE 7 TEMPLE OF THE INSCRIPTIONS 8 TOMB OF THE RED QUEEN (TEMPLE XIII) 9 TEMPLE OF THE SKULL [ TEMP ...

and drive the agriculture on which the city de- pended. It was the ajaw’s role to intercede with the gods to help protect and fe ...

STANDING TALL During his reign as ajaw, Pakal built the Great Palace at Palenque. His son, K’inich Kan B’alam, added its most di ...

DEATH AND REBIRTH THE 1952 DISCOVERY by Mexican ar- chaeologist Alberto Ruz of Pakal’s burial chamber below the Temple of the In ...

NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC HISTORY 73 scene on the lid, but most scholars agree that the central figure depicts 1 Pakal transformed int ...

dominated by its four-story tower, was built in Pakal’s time. The impressive Temple of the Inscriptions was begun during Pakal’s ...

COLORS OF PALENQUE A vivid stucco relief from Temple XIX at Palenque depicts K’inich Janaab’ Pakal II (also known as Upakal K’in ...

He recorded that a chamber, located at the low- est part of the temple, “resembled an abandoned chapel. Across the walls stucco ...

TEMPLES OF SEA, EARTH, AND SKY THE TEMPLES of Palenque’s so-called Cross Group each represent a different tier of the Maya cosmo ...

UP THE HILL Looking over the lush expanses of Palenque, the Great Palace is distinguished by its sturdy watchtower (left). The T ...