Tikal, a Mayan city, now in ruins, in northern Guatemala, about 27 miles (43 km) northeast of Flores. Tikal, founded about 600 B.C., was the major religious center during the Classic period of Mayan civilization, about 200 to 925 A.D. The city covered about six and one-half square miles (17 km2) and contained hundreds of temples, flat-topped pyramids, palaces, platforms, and other structures. Most were covered with jungle growth when the city was discovered in the 19th century, but archeologists have uncovered a number of the structures.