Upon arriving, we have the sensation of something very powerful living here. But it is not about the Lords of the Time or the Gods of the Bones in the underworld (but also); it was the jungle, the feared jungle which devours her children to give birth in an infinitive circle.

Tonina means ìThe House of Stoneî or ìThe place where sculptures are raised in honor of timeî. The jungle however has its own conception of time.

Over almost 2000 years (Tonina was founded between the III and V Century A.D.), the jungle has tried to devour the city. It has done it sometimes because throughout its history Tonina was abandoned and re-inhabited a lot of times, due to the continuous wars. But the city always raised again, faithful to its tradition as a Mayan military power.

It was like that until the XV Century when the land and the jungle claimed again the ruins of the city; and Tonina slept again for almost 500 years. In the twentieth Century, the ruins of the House of Stone saw the light again.

Apparently, eternity has a problem deciding to whom to give the victory, to the jungle or to the stone.

Lords of the time

We walked up a network of pyramids whose summit reaches 75 meters high (it is higher than the Pyramid of the Sun in Teotihuacan). That is why it is the highest pyramid in Mesoamerica. Everything in Tonina intimidates; its monsters of the earth and from the Underworld, the stairs that serve as decoration of the temples during the ascent, its labyrinth.

Upon reaching the top, the wide sky crowns the splendid view. And on the earth, the green color dominates everything, ìGreen that I want you greenî as it was said by Garcia Lorca; but to me, frankly, poetry and heights give me dizziness, luckily, our camera man is more intrepid and I see (with dread) how he risks in order to get the shots in a diving position (you can watch them at www.guiachiapas.mx)

When walking down, I stop, half way of the step-way to contemplate the lonely figure, of the ruler Bat-Jaguar (Tzotz Choj) who watches who knows what. His look will persist in my memory several hours later.

For now, it is almost a relief to get outside to a place where we can cool off, before taking the tour inside the siteís museum, which is famous because it hosts one of the biggest collections of authentic pieces. But nothing there calms me down. Besides the look of the Bat-Jaguar, we can add the looks of other Lords that are shown to the visitor with the heads held in their hands (decapitated).

At the time of our departure I continue with the feeling that something terrible and powerful is observing us; maybe it is the Bat-Jaguar, maybe the Lords of the time or it might be, with a higher probability the Jungle, which is always implacable, waiting for a new opportunity to devour everything again.

CONTACTO

Zona Arqueológica de Toniná Tel. 01 (919) 124 60 96 / (919) 123 30 19

Call Center 01 919 300 15 Ext. 134 (919) 124 60 96

COSTOS Entrada: $ 48 m.n. (incluye visita al museo del sitio)

Horario

Lunes a Domingo, de 9 a 17 hrs.

CÓMO LLEGAR

Desde Ocosingo, a 12 km por la carretera 199

OTROS SERVICIOS

Museo de sitio y tienda de alimentos y bebidas.

CONSEJOS

Vestir ropa y calzado cómodos. Llevar bloqueador solar, agua y sombrero.