Source: WTL photographs© on site at Uxmal Archeological site in Mexico.
Left photo: Again, the professor-photographer looks out from the top of the platform outside the pyramid's temple and sees this scene: part of the so-called Quadrangle of the Nuns on the far left, the ball court right center, and a Puuc-covered structure on the far right of the left photo; and you can see how the tropical vegetation at that time was virtually swallowing and covering the ruins. In fact you can no longer see this aspect of this area of Uxmal because much more of Uxmal has been recovered from the tropical forest since he was there. The point is that, when Uxmal and most other Mayan sites were abandoned and the Mayas retreated from pre-Columbian invaders (i.e., other Maya city-state invaders, Toltecs, Spanish conquistadors, and modern settlers, the Mayan sites like this one became lost to culture and the humanities and Western knowledge.
Right photo: The so-called Quadrangle of the Nuns (Cuadrángulo de las Monjas) viewed from the Great Pyramid. The first Spaniards at this site gave this area such a name due to the many rooms lining each building, which reminded them of a convent. The square (patio) in the middle measures 65 meters by 45 meters. At one time there was a jaguar altar in the square's center.