The National Monument covers about 2.3 square kilometres (0.89 sq mi) and is surrounded by rainforest plant vegetation causing it to be extremely vibrant green due to high precipitation and rich soils.

It was initially populated beginning in about 1000 BCE, and then abandoned in 1400 CE, a century before the Spanish arrived, for reasons that remain a mystery.

Side note; the villagers used to live in huge communal-like conical houses with thatched roofs with most, if not all, of their family members.

Architecturally, back in the day, the main building probably served as both a symbol as well as a place to conduct public business.

[3] After ascending the stairs next to the center mound, visitors would have been greeted by a matching pair of structures, rectangular in shape.

There were tools that were found that suggested that Guayabo had people dedicated to growing agriculture which mainly consisted of roots such as yucca.

The explorers who excavated this site include Anastacio Alfaro, Carlos Aguilar, Oscar Fonseca, and Sergio Chávez.

This is a popular destination to visit because although Guayabo is similar to other excavated sites such as Machu Picchu, Chichen Itza, and other South American and Central American ruins in the sense that the artifacts and structures that can be found look similar, it draws the public in due to the mystery of why it was abandoned, and the fact that there is still a big portion of it that has not yet been excavated.