Cerros Maya Ruins

Cerros sits on a low point on the southern shore of Corozal Bay, and it was built where it was for trade: the New River and the Rio Hondo both reach the sea nearby, and the city controlled the routes inland. It rose and fell early, flourishing in the Late Preclassic around the first century BC, when its largest temple was raised with masks flanking the stair. The sea has been eating the site for decades and part of the waterfront structures have gone.

History

Cerros began around 400 BC as a small village of farmers, fishermen and traders. Around 50 BC, as its economy grew and its people experimented with kingship, they buried their own houses to make room for temples and plazas, starting with Structure 5C-2nd, which stands with its back to Chetumal Bay at the north end of the site's sacred axis; the last big building went up around AD 100, and apart from a small later village the site was abandoned by AD 400. Thomas Gann drew attention to its mounds in 1900. In 1973 a Dallas company bought the site to build a resort, and the excavations it funded, led by David Freidel from 1974, showed Cerros to be a Late Preclassic city; when the resort plan fell through, the site was handed to the government of Belize as promised (Wikipedia, Cerros).

Highlights

• The main temple - a Late Preclassic pyramid with the remains of stucco masks.
• The waterfront setting - structures standing directly on Corozal Bay.
• The canal system - a channel cut around the site, visible in the ground.
• The erosion - the sea taking the shoreline structures, visible year to year.

When to go

December to April is the dry season and the practical window; the road is often impassable in the rains and the boat is then the only way. Mornings are coolest. Mosquitoes are heavy in any season.

Before you go

The road in is very poor and frequently impassable, so the boat is the reliable option and costs more. Erosion has destroyed part of the site and continues. Facilities are minimal and mosquitoes are severe.

Nearby

Corozal Town is across the bay, and Sarteneja is east along the coast.