Calakmul

Calakmul is a Maya archaeological site deep in the rainforest of the Peten Basin region, in the Mexican state of Campeche, roughly 38 kilometers north of the ruins of El Mirador. It served as the capital of the Kaan, or Kingdom of the Snake, dynasty, one of the most powerful Maya polities of most of the Classic period, ruling at its 7th-century height over a domain extending as far as 150 kilometers and supporting an estimated population of 50,000. The site holds some 6,750 mapped structures and 117 carved stelae, the largest such concentration anywhere in the Maya region, dominated by Structure Two, a pyramid temple over 45 meters tall and among the largest built anywhere in the Maya world. Calakmul flourished from the Middle Preclassic period through the Late Classic before declining gradually after the 8th century.