Zaculeu

Zaculeu was a capital of the Mam, occupied for centuries and besieged by the Spanish in 1525, and it sits on a plateau above the river outside Huehuetenango with plazas, platforms and a ball court. What visitors notice at once is its condition: in the 1940s the site was restored under a programme funded by the United Fruit Company, and the work covered the structures in smooth cement plaster with sharp corners and level surfaces, producing something that looks less like a ruin than a model of one. Archaeologists have criticised it heavily as an intervention that destroyed evidence. It is, at least, extremely legible, and it is quiet.

What you actually see

• Cement-plastered platforms - the controversial 1940s restoration.
• A ball court and plazas - the Mam capital laid out clearly.
• The plateau setting - the defensible ground above the river.
• A site museum - the finds and the history of the excavation.

When to go

In the months from November to April, while it is dry. Two hours. It is a short trip from Huehuetenango and easily combined with the town.

Honest expectations

The restoration has been widely condemned and what you see is largely twentieth-century cement, not Maya masonry. Interpretation is limited. The site is small. Anyone expecting authentic surfaces will be disappointed.

Nearby

Huehuetenango is east; the Cuchumatanes rise north.