Abandoned for almost half a millennia, Coba (or Cobá)  was once one of the most important cities of the Mayan Empire. But since the Spanish conquest nearly 500 years ago, this ancient city has slowly succumbed to the stranglehold of the surrounding forest.

‘La Iglesia’ (The Church), one of Coba’s larger pyramids

La Iglesia, with one of Coba’s many stone stelaes under the thatched roof in the foreground

One of the tunnels under La Iglesia

A carved head or skull on La Iglesia

A glyph or pictogram on one of La Iglesia’s many steps

Coba is quite simply massive, and most of the site remains unexcavated, a prisoner of the Yucatan jungle. Yet historians estimate it was once home for between 40,000 and 50,000 people.

One of the ballcourts at Coba

Detail of the stone ring, probably used for scoring

The second of the Coba ballcourts

A carved tablet of Mayan script on the second ballcourt

Coba is actually a number settlements, each connected by a network of limestone roads called sacbeob (singular sacbe). Coba itself covers an area of approximately 30 square miles, but at the height of its importance it influenced a much wider area. In fact, the longest of the sacbe joins Coba to the Mayan site of Yaxuna, 62 miles to the west.

The broad, limestone expanse of the Yucatan Peninsula has no surface rivers. So located as it is around several lakes, Coba was once a jewel of the Mayan World. In fact, the name Coba means ‘waters stirred by the wind’ in the Mayan language.

One of many stelae Coba, covered in carved images called glyphs

The glyph-covered stelae document all aspects of Mayan life

Sadly, most of them are badly eroded and difficult to decipher

The whole of the Coba site is absolutely fascinating. Pyramids, ballcourts and other wonders emerge from the trees as you wander the sacbeob through the jungle.

One of Coba’s smaller pyramids

But without doubt, the most impressive structure at Coba is the great pyramid of Nohuch Mul. The name is Mayan for ‘great mound’ and it couldn’t be more appropriate.

Our first glimpse of the main Nohuch Mul pyramid

Nohuch Mul

At 137 feet, the main Nohuch Mul pyramid (also known as Ixmoja ) is the tallest in the Yucatan, and more than half as high again as the famous El Castillo (Temple of Kukulcan) at Chichen Itza.

Can you spot Rich at the top?

How about now?

The cherry on the top, is that you can go to the top! That’s right, unlike El Castillo, you can still climb Nohuch Mul.

The step climb up Nohuch Mul isn’t for the faint hearted!

View across Coba from the top of Nohuch Mul

Structure at the summit of Nohuch Mul

Ecstatic to be here!

And if you can handle the 120 (or so) vertigo-inducing steps, the views from the summit of Nohuch Mul are breathtaking. Of course, once you’ve made it to the top, you have to get back down again!

The first step’s a doozy!

Rich gingerly making his way back down Nohuch Mul

Made it!

This post was inspired by the photo themes of  Stairs, Steps, Ladders  from Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge, Cherry On Top from Michelle of The Daily Post and Jo’s Monday Walk, of course.

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