Archeological Sites
18 Sites
This is the most visited site in Quintana Roo. It has stunning residential, civic and religious complexes surrounded by jungle. The Temple of the Masks is outstanding with figures of royal personages which still retain traces of red paint and whose attire bears celestial symbols.
Quintana Roo
An important coastal city, inhabited since the fifth century BC, with impressive architecture related to that of El Petén in Guatemala, of temples erected with intricate arrises. It was of great importance in the trade between the peninsula and the Gulf coast. It had contact with Chichen Itza and Mayapan.
Quintana Roo
The largest and most important city of Chetumal bay. Its inhabitants were skilled navigators who paddled their canoes along the canals of the region and ventured into the Caribbean to trade. As well as the numerous structures, they built wells and “chultunes” (cisterns) for the supply of fresh water.
Quintana Roo
One of the first Mayan settlements seen by the Spanish conquistadors in 1518, opposite to the island of Cozumel. Its Maya name means “water from the north.” There are eight groups of small buildings lined up between the beach and the jungle; there are fragments of paint and one of the last Mayan dates recorded.
Quintana Roo
The principal Maya city on the island of Cozumel, founded 17 centuries ago, it was part of the intense trade and political network of Chichen Itza. The housing and religious complexes explored to date, together with the altars and pyramids, testify to its importance.
Quintana Roo
An ancient city, eight centuries old, where explorers found an impressive palace of the god Chaac, almost 50 burial sites and a great variety of artefacts, some local and others imported from afar (made of obsidian, quartz, ceramic, coral and conch shell), testifying to its commercial importance.
Quintana Roo
A powerful walled city on the coast, with some of the best preserved mural paintings in the Mayan area. Its monuments exemplify the particular style of the East Coast, where the ancient pointed arch gave way to flat roofs supported by columns.
Quintana Roo
Pre-Hispanic port of departure to Cozumel for numerous pilgrims headed for the sanctuary of the goddess Ixchel, as well as a very important Maya trading city whose inhabitants navigated the Caribbean coast as far as Honduras. Its monuments are in the unique coastal style with large platforms and rounded corners.
Quintana Roo
Crucial maritime port for the Maya Caribbean, possibly serving the great kingdom of Coba 1400 years ago. Impressive structures remain, such as the Building of the Birds, with its outstanding mural paintings. This and other vestiges reveal the influence of Teotihuacan.
Quintana Roo
