File:Mexico-6480 - Palace of the Masks at Kabah (4707693644).jpg

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The most interesting structure at Kabah is the so-called Palace of the Masks (Codz Poop), which is 46m (151 ft) long and contains ten chambers arranged in two tiers of five each; the chambers of each pair are built one directly behind the other, with a single outside doorway for each pair. The exteriors of most Maya buildings are usually devoid of sculptural decoration below the medial molding, while the rich and intricate mosaics are principally concentrated in the upper half of the façades. The Palace of the Masks, however, is different in this respect. It stands on a low platform, the face of which is decorated with a single row of mask panels; above this is a rich lower molding, surmounted by the lower half of the façade composed of three rows of mask panels running entirely across the front of the building. The medial molding of this building is perhaps the most ornate of any in Yucatan; above it, in the upper half of the façade, there are again three rows of mask panels, the top-most row being surmounted by a third and terminal molding. The effect of this lavishly sculptured façade is overwhelming, and the building itself is one of the most beautiful examples of Puuc architecture that has come down to us.

The area was inhabited by the mid 3rd century BC. Most of the architecture now visible was built between the 7th century and 11th centuries AD. A sculpted date on a doorjamb of one of the buildings gives the date 879, probably around the city's height. Another inscribed date is one of the latest carved in the Maya Classic style, in 987. Kabaah was abandoned or at least no new ceremonial architecture built for several centuries before the Spanish conquest of Yucatán.