CERROS ARCHEOLOGICAL ZONE

This Maya port was an important trading center, built and particularly active during the Late Preclassic period (350 BC to 250 AD), only to be abandoned in the ^4th century; a supply port on the coastal shipping route linking the coasts of Central America to those of the Yucatán, it was also a center of river connections as the Rio Hondo and the New River provided access to the Usumacinta basin and the Petén region. Later reoccupied by a group of Mayans from Guatemala (from the ^9th century onwards), it was never to regain its splendour, remaining a small fishing and trading center until colonial times. Magnificent stucco bas-reliefs and sculpted faces on the site's highest temple (over 20 metres high) were to be found during excavations starting in the 1960s, while at the same time it was discovered that a large part of this ancient city had now sunk beneath the waters of the Caribbean Sea. The heart of the site adjoins the bay and comprises several relatively large structures and pyramids. The southern side of the site is bounded by a network of crescent-shaped canals that surround the central part of the site. Residential structures continue outside the canal, radiating southwards; raised fields finally surround this canal system. Bring mosquito repellent for your visit.