Tenam Puente

Tenam Puente is an important site from the late Maya Post-Classical period. Just outside of Comitán, visitors get there by passing through the little community of Francisco Sarabia and are often astounded to find the stunning old hilltop fortress and city in the low mountains of Chiapas.

The name comes from the Nahuatl meaning simply fortification, but the Spanish word Puente is actually a reference to the old ranch that worked the land here before the cooperative Francisco Sarabia took shape in the mid-20th century.

The Maya city here stood tall from the eighth through the tenth centuries but likely took strength as the Classic Maya cities to the north began to collapse. The position overlooking the Comiteca plain to the north gave it great strategic importance. The major pyramid occupies the entire eastern end of the terrace and the lesser pyramid stands to the southwest. The entire complex is complemented by three ball courts and the territorial extension covers takes up some 25 square kms. This includes religious, civic, and residential constructions.

The city is believed to have been one of the most important city-states of the Eastern Highlands and of significance to the ritual landscape of the region. The Acropolis here served as a sacred space and includes well-defined interior circulation areas. The continuous development of the site went on for some hundreds of years and the orientation of some buildings show a great similarity with those at Santa Elena Poco Uinic, some 100 kms to the north in the Altamirano municipality.

Most visitors will get to Tenam Puente from Comitán. There is regular combi service to La Trinitaria, the little town just southeast of the site. While most services and some very good food are available there, you can also get to the site via the tour operators running directly out of Comitán. The entire area is enchanted and is often included as a stop on trips further southeast to the Lagos de Colon and the Lagartero site.