Cerros Mayan Ruins

Located at the waters edge, it is thought that Cerros was an important trading site for the ancient Mayans.
Cerros Mayan Ruins - To the untrained eye, the Cerros Mayan compound may look like every other ancient Belize ruin, but don’t let first impressions deceive you. Cerros is a unique gem of a location located near the Bay of Chetumal and in close proximity to Corozal, a town that has become one of Belize’s favorite places to settle down for retirees and North Americans who wish they could retire!
There are secrets to be found at Cerros Mayan ruins, but you would require diving gear to unearth them! This waterfront historical site is now partially underwater, but no worries—there’s lots explore if you wander the 40+ acres of hillside to take in two ball courts, a central plaza, pyramids and the piece de resistance, the main, towering temple standing 64-feet above ground level. See painted masks and stucco walls that have retained traces of splendid decorations, despite erosion and time.
Why you should visit Cerros Mayan Ruins?
Cerros is a great example of land occupied continuously for centuries and not every Mayan site can make this claim. Archaeologists speculate that this community thrived between 400 BC and AD 400, during which time distinct cultures emerged and are today classified as examples of both the Late Pre-classic Period and the Classic Period. Study the architecture, art and symbolism left behind by generations of indigenous people who turned this area into a trading hub for merchants moving across Central America. Look for signs of the primitive canal system used by the Mayans to water the terraces on which the community’s crops were grown.
What is the Best Way to Experience Cerros?
For national monuments (such as Cerros), the Belize Government requires that you be accompanied by a licensed-trained tour guide.  This is not only for your safety, but the governments way of protecting their historical monuments.  
What is the Best Way to Reach Cerros?
When is the Best Time to Visit?
This depends upon your willingness to put up with a wetlands environment during the green season when rains turn the area into a lush landscape. If you’ve no fear of flying insects, wear proper clothing, use insect repellant and neither the bugs nor rain will bother you.
Where in Cerros Located in Belize?
Cerros is located 84 miles north of Belize City at the mouth of the New River and near the Bay of Chetumal in Corozal District, the northern-most Belize territory.
Cerros (as it is locally referred to) can be reached by a short boat ride from Corozal Town. Boats can be hired in town from your hotel guest services. Additionally one can drive to Cerro Maya by road passing such picturesque, lagoon side, villages as Chunox, Progresso and Copper Bank.

Cerros Mayan Ruins

     The Cerros Mayan Ruins, can be reached by a short boat ride from Corozal Town. Boats can be hired in town from your hotel guest services. But you can drive to Cerros by road crossing the ferry at the south side of the town and from there passing such picturesque, lagoon side, villages as Chunox, Progresso and Copper Bank. This site is located within an area of extensive wetlands, therefore, it is advisable to use insect repellent and, if possible, long sleeve shirts and trousers
     From 400 B.C. to 100 A.D., Cerros, or Cerro Maya, was a pivotal coastal trading center. With a Spanish name that translates to “Maya Hill”, Cerro Maya is located on a peninsula across from the town of Corozal and in the Bay of Chetumal. Archaeologists believe Cerros must not have survived long because of a shift in trade routes. At the height of its day, the city distributed salt from mining communities and traded chert tools. Today, Cerros is partially underwater, but what remains is stunning – including five temples (one that is 72 feet high) and related plazas, a large canal system and a beautiful panoramic viewed from the top of the temples.
     The Maya ruin at Cerros across from the Corozal Bay.  Cerros was occupied in the late Preclassic period and underwent several modifications in the Classic period. For much of its history the site was an important trading center probably based on this sea-borne import of jade and obsidian. Its early decline was possibly few to the general shift of trade routes connecting the highlands and lowlands in the early classic.
     This Cerro Maya (Maya Hill) archaeological reserve comprises 52 acres and includes 3 large architectural complexes dominating several plazas flanked by pyramidal structures. Tombs and ball courts have been excavated and artifacts found within them attest to the importance of the site between 400 BC and A.D. 100. This site’s proximity to the sea has resulted in the erosion of two large structures. One of these mounds, structure 5C-nd, contains large stucco masks that have now been replicated to the Institute of Archaeology.
     Thomas Gann was among the first to recognize the existence of Cerros, but it was not until 1969 that keep their Peter Schmidt and Joseph Palacio visited the site and registered it with the Institute of Archaeology.
     The land on which the site is located was originally acquired by a Dallas-based company, Metroplex Properties. They subsequently established a nonprofit organization known as the Cerro Maya foundation whose purpose was to excavate the ceremonial center as a tourist attraction. Thankfully the foundation went bankrupt and the large-scale development of the site never materialized. Cerros was eventually surveyed, excavated and partially consolidated from 1973 to 1979 by David Freidel of Southern Methodist University. Freidel focused on the ceremonial center, and on the importance of trade at Cerro Maya. More recently the Belize Institute of Archaeology has conserved the Preclassic masks exposed my Freidel in the 1970s.

Facts About Cerros

  • With a Spanish name that translates to “Maya Hill”, Cerro Maya is located on a peninsula across from the town of Corozal and in the Bay of Chetumal.
  • Archaeological research at the site suggests that it functioned as an important coastal trading center during the Late Preclassic Period (c.a 350 B.C. to A.D. 250).
  • Its tallest temple rises 21 meters above the plaza floor and overlooks the Caribbean Sea which has been steadily eroding numerous prehistoric buildings along the north coast of the site. 
  • It was not until 1969 that it was officially registered by the Belize Department of Archaeology.  
  • The site was eventually surveyed and excavated from 1973 to 1979 by David Friedel of Southern Methodist University. 
  • Cerros was initially home to a small hunting, fishing and trading village.
  • Beginning around 50 B.C., a population boom is evident in the expansion of the site and construction of large stone pyramids with stucco mask façades.
  • By A.D. 250 (it began to decline), and by A.D. 375 Cerros was abandoned.
  • The site was not resettled until the Terminal Classic (ca. A.D. 800-900), when a small refugee population migrated north from central Guatemala.
  • Cerros remained a small fishing and trading community up until colonial times.

PHOTO GALLERY - Cerros