The site of Palenque had been abandoned by the
Maya people for several centuries, when the
Spanish explorers arrived in Chiapas in the 16th century.
The first Euro
pean
to visit the ruins and publish an account was Priest Pedro
Lorenzo de la Nada in 1567; at the time the local Chol Maya
called it Otolum meaning "Land with strong houses", de la
Nada roughly translated this into
Spanish to give the site the name "Palenque", meaning
"fortification". Palenque also became the name for the town
(Santo Domingo del Palenque) which was built over some
peripheral ruins down in the valley from the main ceremonial
center of the ancient city.
pean
to visit the ruins and publish an account was Priest Pedro
Lorenzo de la Nada in 1567; at the time the local Chol Maya
called it Otolum meaning "Land with strong houses", de la
Nada roughly translated this into
Spanish to give the site the name "Palenque", meaning
"fortification". Palenque also became the name for the town
(Santo Domingo del Palenque) which was built over some
peripheral ruins down in the valley from the main ceremonial
center of the ancient city.An ancient name for the central core of the city currently consolidated was Lakam Ha, which translates as "Big Water", for the numerous springs and wide cascades that are found within the site.[1] Palenque was the capital of the important Classic period Maya city-state of B'aakal or B'aak (Bone), after one of the city's most frequently occurring Emblem Glyphs
