Peten Itza kingdom

The Peten Itza kingdom was a Maya state centred on the island city of Nojpetén, also called Tayasal, in Lake Petén Itzá in what is now northern Guatemala. It was the last independent Maya kingdom to survive the Spanish conquest. According to Maya tradition, the Itza migrated to the lake in 1194 after the collapse of the league centred on Chichén Itzá, and the island city became the seat of the Aj Kan Ek' dynasty. Nojpetén was densely built with temples, palaces and thatched houses; Spanish visitors in 1698 counted twenty-one temples, including a large stepped pyramid. Hernán Cortés passed through the kingdom in 1525 and was received by the king, but no Spanish attempt to conquer it followed for nearly a century. Franciscan missionaries reached Nojpetén in 1618 and 1619 but failed to convert the Itza. The kingdom resisted repeated Spanish advances, and only in 1697 did Martín de Ursúa cross the lake and take the city, ending Itza independence. After the conquest the Spanish built a new town on the site, and the old Maya capital disappeared. The kingdom is remembered for preserving Maya religion and political authority longer than any other state in the region.