Chiapas
Palenque
ProbableWell-knownApproximate area
- On screen
- Southern Mexico: Xibalba; The Midgard Serpent; Land of the Dead
- Where
- Palenque, Chiapas, Mexico
- Time & access
- Entry fee to the site and national park. The UK Foreign Office advises against all but essential travel on Highway 199 south of Palenque; check its advice before you go.
In the game
In southern Mexico Lara enters Xibalba, the Maya underworld, through a jungle temple and ball court. A scholarly study of Latin America in video games describes the temple as reminiscent of the 7th-century Maya buildings at Palenque. The team photographed Maya ruins across the Yucatán for the level, but the temple itself is a fictional composite.
History in brief
Palenque was a Maya city-state that peaked in the 7th century under K’inich Janaab’ Pakal, whose tomb was found inside the Temple of the Inscriptions in 1952. Its palace, temples and carved inscriptions are among the finest of Maya architecture.
The place today
A UNESCO World Heritage Site in the jungle a few kilometres from Palenque town, with a site museum. When checked on 13 November 2026, the UK Foreign Office advised against all but essential travel on Federal Highway 199 between Rancho Nuevo and the Chancalá junction, just outside Palenque, and near the Guatemalan border.
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Always check opening times, access rules and travel advice before you go.