Structure 1

15.3239°N, 91.4911°W.

Structure 1 is the principal pyramid at Zaculeu in the Cuchumatanes highlands of western Guatemala — the Postclassic capital of the Mam Maya. The pyramid was built between approximately 1100 and 1525 CE, of cut limestone faced with thick lime plaster, rising about 12 metres in stepped tiers with a single broad central staircase. Zaculeu was the seat of the Mam Maya kingdom that resisted Spanish conquest under the war chief Kaibil Balam in 1525, holding out under siege by Gonzalo de Alvarado for six weeks before surrendering. The site was investigated and controversially over-restored by the United Fruit Company–funded expedition under Richard Woodbury and Aubrey Trik in 1946–1947, who covered original surfaces with modern plaster to approximate the ancient appearance. The reconstruction has been criticized by later researchers as obscuring the underlying archaeological evidence.

Structure 1 is a pyramid in the last Maya kingdom that surrendered to a Spanish army by name, after a six-week siege.