Tonina

Tonina built vertically what its rivals spread wide. The city's acropolis climbs a hillside in seven terraces of temples, palaces and stairways to a summit some 74 metres above the plaza - by structure-height reckonings among the tallest pyramidal complexes in Mesoamerica - and visitors still ascend the whole war-machine, terrace by terrace, to a view over the Ocosingo valley's green cattle country. War was the city's business: Tonina styled itself the "place of celestial captives," its rulers dueled Palenque for centuries - capturing king K'an Joy Chitam II, an event carved with relish - and its texts record one of the last Long Count dates of the Classic collapse, 909 AD, as if it meant to turn out the lights. The stucco survives vividly: the Mural of the Four Suns' cosmic frieze with its skeletal lord swinging a severed head, bound-captive sculptures, and the labyrinthine passages of the lower palaces that visitors thread by daylight shafts. The site museum holds the thrones and the fine-carved sandstone portraits. Crowds are a rumor here.

History

Toniná means "house of stone" in Tzeltal, but this is a modern name: the city was called Po or Popo, and its kings bore the title k'uhul po' ajaw, "divine lord of Po". Most of its more than 100 carved monuments date from the 6th to the 9th century, and its sculpture in the round was made on a scale not seen in Mesoamerica since the Olmec (Wikipedia, Toniná).

What you'll find

• The seven terraces - the 74-metre climb through the acropolis.
• The Mural of the Four Suns - the stucco cosmos with its grim lord.
• The captive sculptures - war commemorated in the round.
• The valley summit - green ranch country from the top.

When to go

Dry-season mornings for the climb's sake; light rakes the stucco best early. Ocosingo's market town makes the fuel-and-lunch stop.

Good to know

The ascent is steep, tall and mostly unrailed - honest footwear and honest pacing. Services are site-basic.

Nearby

The Agua Azul and Misol-Ha falls lie down the Palenque road; San Cristobal's highlands climb the other way.

Key facts