Topoxté

This smaller site is situated on an island close to the southwest shore of Yaxhá Lagoon near the Reserva Natural Privada Yaxhá [1]. Topoxté was one of the last strongholds of the Itzá people.

The site was surveyed on several different occasions throughout the 20th century starting in 1904, though restoration and preservation would have to wait until the early 1990s. The most notable structure here is Temple Pyramid C, the only Postclassic building remaining in Petén. Similar to structures in the Cancún & the Yucatán [2] and Guatemala’s highlands, it has three levels crowned by a portal supported by two pillars.

The only feasible way of getting here is to catch a boat ride from Campamento Ecologico El Sombrero (tel. 7861-1687/8, www.ecosombrero.com [3]).