The centre of Tikal is a city of temples, palaces and plazas, joined by raised causeways and cut out of the Petén forest. More than 3,000 structures are mapped in its 16 km² core, and about a fifth of the city is restored. Here is each complex in the order most visits reach it, how tall the temples stand, which ones you can climb, and which of the guided tours of Tikal walk you past them.
The Great Plaza is the centre of the ruins, about 1.3 km on foot from the Visitor Centre. Each of its four sides is a different kind of building. Temple I stands on the east side and Temple II on the west. The North Acropolis closes the north side, and the Central Acropolis the south. A small ball court lies between Temple I and the Central Acropolis.
Temple I, Structure 5D-1, is the Temple of the Great Jaguar. The Penn project gave it 145 ft, about 45 m; the ministry gives about 47 m. It was raised over the tomb of Jasaw Chan K'awiil I after his death in 734, and it faces west across the plaza. His tomb, Burial 116, was found beneath it in 1962. It was the richest yet found at Tikal. Part of a carved wooden lintel, Temple I Lintel 2, is still in place in its doorway.
Temple II, Structure 5D-2, is the Temple of the Masks. It stands about 38 m and faces Temple I across the plaza. Visitors currently climb it by wooden stairs at the back, to a viewpoint below the roof comb.
The North Acropolis was the burial complex of Tikal’s rulers. Building began here around 350 BC, and by 50 BC it was entering a new phase of expansion, outwards and upwards.
The University of Pennsylvania cut a deep trench into it from 1960. In April 1962, 55 feet down, the team found Burial 85, the oldest rich burial then known in the Maya lowlands. The small-group sunrise and full-day tours both walk you through it.
South of the plaza, the Central Acropolis is a complex of palaces rather than temples. Its core began as the palace of Chak Tok Ich'aak I, the king known as “Jaguar Paw”. Later rulers kept and enlarged it until it became the centre of the whole group.
Other palace groups lie further out. Group G, south of the Méndez Causeway, is a Late Classic palace group with 29 vaulted chambers. The small-group sunset tour starts its afternoon at the Palacio de las Acanaladuras, the Palace of the Grooves, before it reaches the Central Acropolis.
Temple IV, the Temple of the Two-Headed Serpent, stands at the west end of the Tozzer Causeway, about 750 m west of the Great Plaza. It rises about 65 m from its platform, and some 70 m from the plaza floor to the top of its roof comb.
It was built for Yik’in Chan K’awiil, the son of Jasaw Chan K'awiil I. Its carved lintels carry a date of AD 741, and Lintel 3 marks his victory over El Perú, or Waka’, in 743. Most of its Lintels 2 and 3 were removed in 1877 and are now in Basel.
Temple IV is the tallest structure at Tikal and one of the tallest the Maya ever built. It is often called the tallest pre-Columbian structure in the Americas, and that is wrong: La Danta at El Mirador is taller.
A wooden staircase takes you to the top, and the ministry names Temple IV as the observation point for special visits such as sunrise. From its top in March 1977 a film crew spent five days shooting east over the canopy for the rebel base on Yavin 4 in the first Star Wars. Temples II and III rise above the forest in that shot.
Temple III, the Temple of the Jaguar Priest, stands about 55 m. It dates to about AD 810 and was the last major pyramid built at Tikal. It is only partly restored and closed to climbing. Part of its Lintel 2 is still in place; with Temple I’s Lintel 2 it is one of only two carved lintels still largely where the Maya set them.
Temple V lies south of the Great Plaza. The ministry gives it about 57 m, the second tallest at Tikal, and it dates to about AD 700. Visitors cannot climb it today. It was the first temple the 1848 expedition climbed: Modesto Méndez went up on 26 February 1848.
Temple VI, the Temple of the Inscriptions, sits at the end of the Méndez Causeway, about 1.3 km from the East Plaza. Its 12 m roof comb is covered in glyphs. It was dedicated in AD 766 and found only in 1951, by Antonio Ortiz.
The Lost World (Mundo Perdido) was the city’s complex for astronomy and public ritual. It was in use from the Middle Preclassic to the Terminal Classic, longer than any other part of Tikal.
Its Great Pyramid, Structure 5C-54, stands about 31 m, with stairways on all four sides. It is Late Preclassic in origin, and visitors currently climb it. Guatemalan archaeologists of the Proyecto Nacional Tikal excavated and restored the complex from 1979 to 1984, under Juan Pedro Laporte. Most tour itineraries include it.
A twin-pyramid complex is a pair of pyramids, each with four stairways, built with a walled enclosure for a stela. Tikal built one for each k’atun, a period of 20 years. Nine are known. Edwin Shook of the Penn project coined the term in 1956, after finding Stela 22.
Complex Q is the one to see. Its Stela 22 carries the date AD 771, set up by Yax Nuun Ayiin II, and the complex is largely restored. Complex R, dated 790, lies close to the Maler Causeway.
The Plaza of the Seven Temples is lined on its east side by a row of near-identical temples. Palaces close the south and west. On the north side stands an unusual triple ball court.
Ball courts turn up across the city: the small court in the Great Plaza, one in the East Plaza, and the triple court here. The full-day and sunset small-group tours both stop at this plaza.
Raised causeways join the main groups, and each is named after an explorer. The Tozzer Causeway runs west from the Great Plaza to Temple IV. The Maler Causeway runs north from Temple I to Group H. The Maudslay Causeway runs about 0.8 km from Temple IV north-east to Group H, and the Méndez Causeway runs south-east from the East Plaza to Temple VI.
The city had no water but the rain it could store. UNESCO calls its reservoirs aguadas. The Corriental reservoir held the oldest known zeolite water filter. A 2020 study found two of the largest reservoirs contaminated with mercury and toxic cyanobacteria in the late 9th century, one of the factors behind the city’s end told on the history of Tikal.
The ministry’s rule is simple. You may climb only the structures opened for it, by their wooden stairs, and never a roof comb. It also says the rules can change. There is no official list, so the column below is what visitors currently climb.
| Structure | Also called | Height | Date and builder | Climbed today |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Temple IV | Temple of the Two-Headed Serpent | About 65 m from its platform; some 70 m from the plaza floor to the roof comb | Yik'in Chan K'awiil; lintels dated AD 741 | Yes, by a wooden staircase (the sunrise viewpoint) |
| Temple V | — | About 57 m; the second tallest at Tikal | About AD 700 | No |
| Temple III | Temple of the Jaguar Priest | About 55 m | About AD 810, the last major pyramid | No; only partly restored |
| Temple I (5D-1) | Temple of the Great Jaguar | About 45 m (145 ft); the ministry gives about 47 m | Over the tomb of Jasaw Chan K'awiil I, after 734 | No |
| Temple II (5D-2) | Temple of the Masks | About 38 m | Faces Temple I across the Great Plaza | Yes, by wooden stairs at the back |
| Great Pyramid (5C-54) | Lost World, Mundo Perdido | About 31 m | Late Preclassic in origin | Yes |
| Temple VI | Temple of the Inscriptions | A 12 m roof comb carved with glyphs | Dedicated AD 766; found in 1951 | No |
Visitors currently climb Temple II, Temple IV and the Great Pyramid of the Lost World. The park can close a staircase. Temple IV’s was shut for repairs on 7–8 April 2025, and for about three months from 16 August 2023. Temple II was closed to climbers from 15 April to 15 May 2019, while an orange-breasted falcon nested on it. Check at the Visitor Centre on the day.
Sunrise entry, about 04:00 to 06:00, needs the Q150 park ticket, the Q100 sunrise ticket and a guide authorised by INGUAT. A tour brings the guide; some fares include both tickets.
The Central Acropolis, the Great Plaza, the North Acropolis, Temple V, the Plaza of the Seven Temples, the Lost World and Temple IV, in about 4.5 hours with a group of up to nine.
From $85 per person · lowest pickup option · park ticket extra
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Your own guide and vehicle from Flores at 8:00am, with about five hours at the temples and plazas: the Great Plaza, the Central Acropolis, Temple II, the Lost World and Temple IV.
From $209 per person · park ticket included
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The Great Plaza, Temple IV, the Lost World and Temple V with a guide, then a two-hour lunch at the park restaurant. The Tikal admission fee is in the fare.
From $78 per person · park ticket included
Check AvailabilityAccess to the temples can change, so check the ministry’s own pages before you travel.
The people who built them are on the history of Tikal, the heights and dates side by side on Tikal facts and figures, and every tour on Tikal National Park Tours.