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Private Tour: Yaxha One Day

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$ 99

Visit Yaxha, the Third-Largest Ruin in Guatemala

Yaxha was the third-largest city in the region and experienced its maximum power during the Early Classic period. Yaxha has a long history of occupation, with the first settlement being founded sometime in the Middle Preclassic period.

You are picked up in Flores and are transferred to Yaxha Archaeological Park. It is a Mesoamerican archeological site located in the northeast of the Petén Basin region within the Department of Petén. Located in the modern-day department of Petén, northern Guatemala, it is approximately 30 kilometers southeast of Tikal, situated on the north shore of Lake Yaxha.

Yaxha is the third-largest ruin in Guatemala, with only Tikal and El Mirador being larger. The center of the city consisted of a number of plazas and architectural groups, with outlying groups and the lakeshore linked by causeways. The main architectural groups are the Maler Group to the north, linked to the central area by the Blom Causeway, the South (or Main) Acropolis, the West Group, the Northeast Acropolis, the East Acropolis, and a number of plazas and lesser groups make up the site core. The city was linked to the shore of Lake Yaxha by the Lake Causeway.

Yaxha is notable for the unique survival of its toponym from the classical period. The name of the city is of ancient origin, literally meaning blue-green (Yax) water (ha). A thriving ceremonial center in its heyday, it has over 500 structures, including 40 stelae, 13 altars, 9 temple pyramids, and 2 Mesoamerican ball courts.

In the afternoon, you are transferred back to Flores.