Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
CALLING COPÁN
The telephone country code for Honduras is 504. Like Guatemala, Honduras has no area or city codes. So when
dialing a number in Copán Ruinas from Guatemala, or any other country, you dial the international access code
(usually 00), then 504, then the local number.
1
Escalinata de los Jeroglíficos
South of the ball court is Copán's most famous monument, the
Escalinata de los Jeroglifi-
cos
(Hieroglyphic Stairway; 743), the work of King Smoke Shell. Today it's protected
from the elements by a canvas roof. The flight of 63 steps bears a history (in several thou-
sand glyphs) of the royal house of Copán; the steps are bordered by ramps inscribed with
more reliefs and glyphs. The story told on the inscribed steps is still not completely under-
stood because the stairway was partially ruined and the stones jumbled, but archaeologists
are using 3D scanning technology to make a digital version of the original, with the hope
of one day reading it in its entirety.
At the base of the Hieroglyphic Stairway is Stela M (756), bearing a figure (probably
King Smoke Shell) dressed in a feathered cloak; glyphs tell of the solar eclipse in that
year. The altar in front shows a plumed serpent with a human head emerging from its
jaws.
Beside the stairway, a tunnel leads to the tomb of a nobleman, a royal scribe who may
have been the son of King Smoke Imix. The tomb, discovered in June 1989, held a
treasure-trove of painted pottery and beautiful carved jade objects that are now in Hondur-
an museums.
1
Acrópolis
The lofty flight of steps to the south of the Hieroglyphic Stairway mounts the
Templo de las
Inscripciones
(Temple of the Inscriptions). On top of the stairway, the walls are carved with
groups of hieroglyphs. On the south side of the Temple of the Inscriptions is the
Patio Occi-
dental
(West Court), with the
Patio Oriental
(East Court), also called the Patio de los Jaguares
(Court of the Jaguars) to its east. In the West Court, check out Altar Q (776), among the
most famous sculptures here; the original is inside the Museo de Escultura. Around its
sides, carved in superb relief, are the 16 great kings of Copán, ending with its creator, Yax
Pasaj Chan Yopaat. Behind the altar is a sacrificial vault in which archaeologists dis-
