The city of Yashchilan - the bottom of the main repositories of the Mayan culture (literally "green stones"), is located in the Mexican state of Chiapas, in the loop of the Usumacinta River. In this area there is simply a prohibitive number of monuments of architecture and writing Maya. But not all of them reached the researchers. A lot of places were overgrown with jungle, and there simply wasn’t anyone visiting yet. The first mention of Yashchilan falls on the year 320. Then the town was small, but gradually it developed, turning into a regional center, and the dynasty founded by the first ruler was in power until the beginning of the 9th century. Information about the Mayan culture has not been preserved so much, so scientists do not name the exact date of the collapse of the state. But, apparently, military operations did not affect the city, because contemporaries found it in excellent condition. For over eighteen centuries, urban buildings have resisted the damaging effects of a humid tropical climate. Arches, neat steps and even multi-storey buildings are made of stone, held together by a mysterious mortar. The high steles and tablets with skillfully carved paintings, ball pitches and underground passages connecting all the pyramids are also surprising. Wall paintings, altars and monuments with an unknown paint preserved over the past centuries cannot but impress. Most of the unusual paintings have never been restored since the ancient times of the Mayan civilization. The main buildings of the city are Temple 33 and the Temple of the Four Thresholds. And the earliest known monument of Yashchilan is Stela 27. It was put up supposedly on October 18, 514 and restored in the late classical period. Despite the impressive age of the ancient city, its ruins were studied relatively recently, only at the end of the XIX century. The point here is not only the researchers' doubts (a well-preserved city hidden in the jungle sounds really strange), but also inaccessibility. So far, the excavation area is approximately six square kilometers. More recently, not a single highway led to Yashchilan. Moreover, they were not even 150 km away. They got to the city on small planes or boats. Trips to Yashchilan became available to tourists only after the construction of a road along the border with Guatemala in the 90s. Visits to the ancient city were simplified, but all the same, the final step in the journey will be a river walk, because there is no other way to Yashchilan. The river flows along the border with Guatemala. Usumasinta is a fairly wide river and also with a fast flow full of whirlpools. Otherwise, as in a motor boat, you simply cannot go up. Crocodiles are still found in it. Above the gentle banks of the river, a thick wall stands a forest thicket. Giant trees rise above the earth above fifty meters. In the pristine and rarely visited jungle, howler monkeys and toucans live. Virtually untouched nature creates a backdrop from which it is breathtaking. Upon arrival, the huge city of Yashchilan, hidden in the jungle, in which many cultural discoveries are made, opens in all its splendor. It was this city that gave the National Museum of Anthropology in Mexico City a huge part of the exhibits.