Quirigua is one of three UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Guatemala, the other two are Tikal and the city of Antigua. Although Quirigua is much smaller than Tikal, it is an important site because of the uniqueness of the carvings on its Stelas. Like Copan, but unlike anywhere else in the Mayan world, Quirigua used a deep-relief style of carving, giving much more of a 3D sculpted look to it monuments, rather than the flat engravings on limestone everywhere else. Because Quirigua had access to red sandstone, which is tougher than limestone, Quirigua was able to erect some of the largest monuments seen in all of Mayan Civilization.

Quirigua is located in the midst of endless banana plantations. Located in the southeast corner of Guatemala, it is not an easy site to get too, unless you also happen to be headed to Copan, which is just over the border in Honduras. We spent half a day at Quirigua. I really liked seeing these monuments because the carvings are so distinct and well preserved, plus they are also unique - the zoomorphs that depict hybrid human/animal forms are fun to look at.