Calakmul Ruins

Calakmul Ruins stand as the most powerful Maya city of the Classic period, controlling a political sphere that encompassed half the Maya world at its peak in 700 CE, rivaling Tikal in Guatemala as Mesoamerica's supreme power. This remote Campeche site draws low visitor numbers, its silence punctuated only by howler monkeys as visitors climb the 55-metre Structure II, the largest Maya pyramid by base footprint in the Americas. It surpasses #7 Tikal Ruins' Temple IV by 15% in total base area, covering 2.3 hectares.