... FOR HONDURAN TOURISM INFO PAGE
In August 1996, the Honduran Institute of Anthropology and History together with the Honduran Institute of tourism/(email: fide@hondutel.hn) and their information office/ (email: 104202.3433@compuserve.com) in Miami Florida, hosted the grand opening of the long awaited COPAN MUSEUM. This fully enclosed structure is the first of its kind in Central America, and a model to other nations with similar treasures of such magnitude to follow. Copan makes part of the Maya lands, both ancient and modern, occupy the Yucatan Peninsula, whose topography varies from volcanic mountains, called the Highlands the south, to the porous limestone shelf, called the Lowlands, in the central and northern regions. The lowlands extend from Copan, Honduras, in the south to northern Yucatan. The east-west axis includes Belize, most of modern Guatemala, and the Mexican state of Tabasco, where Comalcalco, the westernmost Classic-period Maya center is located.
Few sites of the Classic period are located at any significant altitude. Among the highest are Caracol, Belize; Chinkultik, Chiapas; and COPAN in Honduras. The Maya, builders of one of the most fascinating civilizations in the history of the world, are not just an archaeological race. There are over two million people who will speak one or more than thirty languages living still today in these areas. To further understand their structures and Temples you must first learn of their practices and beliefs. The ancient Maya were described as worshippers of time, involved totally with abstractions. They were a peace loving , religious, modest, conservative and clean about their person! Nameless and faceless to modern man , the Classic Maya dwelt during times of peace. Contact between ceremonial centers was limited to conferences on the calendar and astronomy. War did not exist; in fact, the Maya were said to adopt warlike behavior only centuries later. You to will notice this difference in their soft spoken and gentle behavior to this day in modern Copan. On my last trip to the beautiful place, I was fortunate to be guided by a dear friend, Erasmo Sosa,(pictured here standing with his favorite Stelae) who works for the Institute of Tourism in Tegucigalpa. His face radiated with pride as he explained the various courts and sites, clearly demonstrating the love of his culture and country. These are of places and people in Latin America that we will continue reporting on in LatinWorld Magazine. Please feel free to send me or the Institute your comments and suggestion, and we look forward in you visiting our zine as we celebrate OUR opening as well.
Jorge Giraldez-Benard, Editor
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