The buildings outside the limits of the valley of Mexico, and espe cially those in Central America, are in far better preservation. One of the most stupendous monuments of this style of architecture occurs at Palenque, near the eastern extremity of the present republic of Mexico. The great Teocalli at l'alenque (built, according to the startling assumption of Lord Kint.,sborough, after the model of the temple of Solomon) comprised within its extensive precincts various sanctuaries and sepulchre., courts and cloisters, subtermneous galleries, and cells for the h ibitation of the priests. The whole rests on a plat form. composed of three graduated terraces, and forms a spacious quad rangle inclosed by porticoes. On each side of the exterior is an ascent or flight of stairs, and on the cast n second flight leading down, after the first is ascended, into the cloistered court. Beneath the cloisters are what arc conjectured to have been initiatory galleries ; and in the centre of the quadrangle is what appears to be the ruins of an altar or " high place." The temple itself is oblong in plan. 76 feet wide by 26 feet deep, and is decorated with sculpture and hieroglyphics executed in stucco. T110 roof is formed by graduated courses of stone, which meet at the summit, and has six ornamental projections,placed above the openings formed by the supporting piers, which were pro bably intended to support small idols or ornamental figures. The city of Palenque itself exhibits a variety of buildings, temples, palaces, baths, and private houses, all manifesting excellence of workmanship combined with considerable skill iu design.
The palaces, or houses of the kings, appear ,to have resembled the temples in being based on pyramidal substnietures ; but these are generally oblong instead of square in plan, and much lower than the templo-pyrnmide. Their substructure is usually of stone, and very massive, elaborately sculptured with figures of idols and masks of monstrous proportions, scrolls, mat-work, AT., often executed with great skill. The upper part appears to have been of wood, but has mostly perished. One of the most characteristic of these is the palace at Mitla, the retnaina of which pillow that it must have been an edifice of greet extent and grandeur. It appears to have originally comprised five distinct portions, which heve been regarded as places of retiremeut for the kings, or as tombs. Three of these still remain. The principal one is nearly 130 feet long. A, staircase leads to a subterranean apart ment 83 feet by 2d, the walls of which, like the exterior, appear to have been sculptured or tooled, in imitation of mat or basket-work—a species of decoration characteristic of Toltecan taste, and often found in sepulchral chambers. This same building has also a spacious'hall supported by six plain cylindrical columns of porphyry, without base or capital. and in some respects differing from any found elsewhere.
The ceiling which they support is formed of beams and slabs of cypress or savin wood of large size. Over the principal entrance is a stone lintel 12 feet long and 3 feet deep. There is no appearance of windows. The interiors of the chambers have been elaborately painted with repre sentations of sacrifices, trophies, weapons, &e. ; and with ornaments resembling those found in Etruscan decorations. Other palaces, espe cially those in Central America, that at Zayi for instance, have the terraces presenting successive architectural facades instead of mere flights of steps. Some instances, as the Casa de las Monjas, at Uxmas, occur where the buildings have been arranged around a central court yard.
At Teotihuacan, about 8 leagues to the north-east of the city of Mexico, are several hundred small pyramids, ranged in files or lines, and two larger ones, which are believed to have been consecrated to the sun and moon. Each of the latter is divided into four platforms, the slopes between which consisted of steps, and on the summit was a colossal stone statue covered with plates of gold, which were stripped off by Cortes's soldiers, and the statues themselves destroyed.
Besides monuments which are chiefly works of magnificence, others exist which attest the high degree of civilisation attained by the Toltecans, such as roads and bridges. The former of these were con structed of huge blocks of stone, and frequently carried on a continued level, so as to be viaducts across valleys. There are also throughout Central America numerous excavations or rock-hewn halls and caverns, called by the natives "granaries of the giants." They resemble the Pelasgic fabric near Argos known by the name of the Treasury of Atreus, are generally dome-shaped, and the central apartment is lighted through an aperture in its vault. Other points of resemblance to Pelasgic masonry may be found in the doorways to these subterraneous galleries and apartments, which are to some extent similar to the gate of Mycenw; and also in the peculiar triangular arch formed by courses of stones projecting over each other. Arches of this mode of con struction are found in the cloisters of the building at Palenque. There are also extensive works for defensive purposes, earthen sepulchral mounds, &c. The remains of sculpture found in Mexico are numerous, and of great variety both of form and material.
(Lord Kingaborough, Antiquities of Mexico ; Stephens, Central America, and Yucatan ; Catberwood, Ancient Monuments, Central America ; Handbook of Architecture, vol. i.; Gailhabaud, 13101lUllitild Amiens etModernes, tom. iv.)