Rosalila Temple of Copán
Templo Rosalila de Copán
- Date
- 1989 (templo del century VI) · confidence high
- Place
- Copán Ruinas, Copán, Honduras
- Credited to
- Builders of Classic Copán; discovered by Ricardo Agurcia Fasquelle (1989)
- Field
- Cosmos & Earth
What was discovered
A sixth-century temple ritually sealed inside a later pyramid that has survived with its polychrome stucco facade nearly intact, with masks, birds and the sun god. It is the best-preserved Classic Maya building in its original decoration.
The temple was discovered in 1989 inside Structure 10L-16 and is presented in a visitable tunnel. Its construction is dated to about AD 571; the year here is that of the discovery.
What it led to
- direct knowledge of the polychromy and iconographic programme of Maya architecture
- replicas and reconstructions in Honduran museums
- a model for tunnel excavation in superimposed pyramids