The story
Equinox at Copan Ruins in Copan Ruinas
Copán's Maya ruins were built with deliberate solar alignments marking the equinoxes and solstices, part of the same astronomical tradition responsible for Chichén Itzá's famous serpent-shadow effect, though Copán's equinox alignments are far less publicized and draw a smaller organized public gathering than that Mexican site.
Copán, the Maya archaeological site outside modern Copán Ruinas, was a major center of astronomical observation in the Classic Maya period, and its structures, including the elaborately carved Hieroglyphic Stairway, reflect an advanced integration of celestial observation into architecture and civic design.