COPAN, a ruined city of Honduras, located near the Guate malan border and on the Copan river, a tributary of the Motagua. The ancient city, buried under vegetation and alluvial deposits, is cut through by the river, so that the banks give a vertical sec tion of centuries of life and building under the ancient Maya Indians. The ruins are named after a nearby modern town; this was captured by the Spaniards in 153o.