Acanmul, Maya archaeological site in Campeche, Mexico

Acanmul is a Maya archaeological site with temples, platforms, and residential structures scattered across dense jungle near Campeche. The buildings are dispersed over roughly two square kilometers and display varied states of preservation.

Excavations between 1999 and 2005 showed that the site thrived during the Classical Maya period around 600 to 800 CE. Research indicates it was inhabited for centuries as an active settlement.

The site's name combines Maya words for 'place' and 'stone', and its core is a two-storey building called a palace, built in the Late Classic and enlarged by later construction. Beside its platform stand smaller two-storey structures, one later converted into a sweat bath with a low crawl-through doorway.

Acanmul is not officially open to visitors, so there is no entrance, signage or maintained path; access must be arranged in advance. The ruins lie about 25 km northeast of Campeche city, and in 2010 parts of the site were heavily overgrown. Plan for dense vegetation and bring water, sturdy shoes and insect protection.

The site's main structure is often called a palace, but its stepped, projecting central mass and broad stairway create the false impression of a pyramid. Behind the ground-floor rooms, vertical outer walls show that an upper storey once rested on a solid masonry block before later rooms were built against it.