Which civilization built the city of Tikal in the rainforest of present-day Guatemala?

The Maya civilization built the city of Tikal in the rainforest of present-day Guatemala.

Tikal was one of the largest and most influential Maya cities, located in the Petén region of northern Guatemala. It developed over many centuries and reached major political importance during the Maya Classic period, especially between the 3rd and 9th centuries CE.

The city contains monumental temples, palaces, plazas, and causeways spread through tropical forest. Its tallest structure, Temple IV, rises about 70 metres and is among the highest pre-Columbian structures in the Americas. Tikal’s inscriptions record rulers, warfare, alliances, rituals, and calendar dates.

Tikal was not built by the Aztecs, whose core civilization developed much farther west in central Mexico, nor by the Inca, whose empire centered in the Andes. Tikal was abandoned as a major urban center by the late 10th century, although Maya communities continued to live in the wider region. UNESCO listed it as a World Heritage Site in 1979.