Back Temple de la Serp Bicèfala Catalan Templo de la Serpiente Bicéfala Spanish Kuil IV Tikal ID Świątynia IV (Tikál) Polish Храм IV (Тикаль) Russian 蒂卡尔四号神庙 Chinese
Tikal Temple IV is a Mesoamerican pyramid in the ruins of the ancient Maya city of Tikal in modern Guatemala. It was one of the tallest and most voluminous buildings in the Maya world.[1] The pyramid was built around 741 AD.[1] Temple IV is located at the western edge of the site core.[1] Two causeways meet at the temple; the Tozzer Causeway runs east to the Great Plaza, while the Maudslay Causeway runs northeast to the Northern Zone.[1] Temple IV is the second tallest pre-Columbian structure still standing in the New World, just after the Great Pyramid of Toniná in Chiapas, Mexico,[2] although Teotihuacan's Pyramid of the Sun may once have been taller.[3]
The pyramid was built to mark the reign of the 27th king of the Tikal dynasty, Yik'in Chan K'awiil, although it may have been built after his death as his funerary temple.[4] Archaeologists believe that Yik'in Chan K'awiil's tomb lies undiscovered somewhere underneath the temple.[5] The summit shrine faces eastward to the site core, with Temple III visible directly in front and Temple I and Temple II beyond it.[3]