The Maya city of Tayasal, now called Flores, was the last city to be conquered by the Spanish. In 1525 Cortéz made a visit to the town, where his wounded horse died, because when he left, the Maya thought it was a god and didn't know what to feed it, so fed it flowers fit for gods. The Maya erected a statue in honor of the wounded horse and it became an idol, until it was destroyed by the Franciscans nearly one hundred years later. The Spanish, who eventually conquered Tayasal in 1697, had ignored the Mayan city for almost 200 years - probably because of its remote location - while they conquered the rest of the country.

The stelae are in Parque Central; they were brought here from neighboring sites.