Santa Rita Mayan Ruins

Santa Rita Mayan Ruins, believed to be the ancient city of Chetumal
Santa Rita is a unique ancient Maya site because it survived the collapse of Maya society into the Late Post Classic Period and the early days of the Spanish incursion into the region. Today, it is believed that the ruins known as Santa Rita were once the ancient city of Chetumal. The modern day town of Corozal in Belize was built on the abandoned ruins of Santa Rita.
Why You Have to Visit Santa Rita?
Chetumal Bay was an important body of water that connected the southern parts of the ancient Maya Empire to points further north. Due to geopolitical reasons, the Maya region that contained Santa Rita (and the Maya city of Chetumal) is largely across the border in Mexico. Although not much is left of the original Santa Rita, visitors can still explore one large building that has been left untouched.
Other points of interest to see in Santa Rita include rooms, passageways, vaults, and coastal lookouts that were used by the ancient Maya to defend their vital trade network. Archeologists have performed painstaking work to identify artifacts and grave goods to piece together the tentative identity of Santa Rita as the ancient city of Chetumal.
While Santa Rita lacks much of the enormous architecture that characterizes other ancient Maya sites in Belize, its proximity to Corozal Town and gorgeous views of the Caribbean make it an excellent introduction to the history and architecture of the ancient Maya.
What is the Best Way to Experience Santa Rita?
For national monuments (such as Santa Rita), 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.  
Best Way to Get to Santa Rita Belize
Multiple transportation options, including buses and domestic air flights all connect Corozal Town to the rest of the country. Once in Corozal Town, the ruins of Santa Rita are only a short distance away near the Coca-Cola factory.
When Is the Best Time to Visit Santa Rita
Santa Rita is open all year-round but can be difficult to properly appreciate during heavy rains.
Where in Belize Is Santa Rita Located?
The surviving ancient Maya buildings of Santa Rita lie on the outskirts of the modern day town of Corozal in northern Belize. Santa Rita lies directly on the shore of the Caribbean and continues westward towards the town of Corozal.

Santa Rita Mayan Ruins

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     From Corozal Town take the road that leads to the border with Mexico. At the northern exit to Corozal Town continue straight up the road intersection that leads to the town hospital. From there Santa Rita is a short distance further on your right just before reaching the Coca Cola distribution depot.
     A Mayan ruin in northern Belize that dates from 2000 B.C., Santa Rita is what remains of Chactemal (modern-day Chetumal, Quintana Roo Mexico) an ancient Mayan city that is the genesis of the Mestizo people after the first European contact in the region. Santa Rita controlled trade routes within the boundaries of today’s Mexico and Guatemala.  
     Excavations have revealed fishing net sinkers and other objects, which point to Santa Rita’s coastal importance. Remains of rulers with jade and mica ornamentation, as well as others with gold ear decorations, show that the Mayan city had a commanding role for trade in the Yucatan Peninsula and surrounding areas. Santa Rita is located on the outskirts of Corozal Town and is bordered on the east by the Caribbean Sea.
     This site of Santa Rita was first settled by Maya farmers around 1000 BC. Evidence for this early phase of occupation is provided by Swasey style pottery that represents some of the earliest ceramics discovered in the Maya lowlands. In the late Preclassic period, from 300 BC to A.D. 300 the settlement expanded but continued to be based primarily on agriculture.
     The modern town of Corozal in Belize was founded in the mid 1800s and encircles the ancient city of Santa Rita. At its height this site extended from present day Paraiso in the north to the south end of Corozal. This site, bordered on the east by the sea, is situated on a limestone plateu typical of northern Belize which supports a low forest where game abounds. Just north of the center is the Rio Hondo. Along its banks there are large areas of swampland where the Maya created raised fields. These supported the cacao plantations for which the province was famous. The seacoast gave this site access to a wide variety of marine resources. Santa Rita is located on the outskirts of Corozal just off the main road leading to the Mexican border. Frequent buses between Belize City and Corozal pass by this site. There are several flights from Belize City. Accommodations are available in Corozal Town.

Facts About Santa Rita

  • Santa Rita is located on the outskirts of Corozal Town and is bordered on the east by the Caribbean Sea.
  • It is near the Coca Cola factory just off the main road leading to the border town, Santa Elena, on the way to Mexico.
  • Santa Rita was probably the ancient coastal trading city known as Chetumal during the Late Post-Classic Period. 
  • In ancient times the Maya occupied parts of Mexico, all of Belize, Guatemala, El Salvador and parts of Honduras.
  • Maya borders did not follow the political boundaries of today. Just prior to European conquest, the northern part of one Maya province lay in what is today’s Quintana Roo (Mexico); the southern part was in Belize, with the southern extremes including Guinea Grass and Northern River.
  • Ancient Maya Chetumal was not today’s Mexican Chetumal, but what is now Santa Rita on the outskirts of Corozal Town.
  • Ancient Chetumal, wealthy because of the large production of cacao and honey, ruled the areas on both sides of the Rio Hondo. 
  • Structure 7 is the tallest of all the structures at Santa Rita and one of the only few that still exist.
  • It once rose 15 meters above the plaza surface and forms the northern building and focal point for this group which also contains Structures 40 and 42.
  • The first investigations into this structure were carried out by Thomas Gann who recovered a burial and a cache at the summit, but he refused to go any further due to the hard nature of the structure’s core.
  • Subsequent investigations were carried out by Drs Arlen and Diane Chase with the Corozal Postclassic Project in 1979, 84 and 85, and most recently by the Institute of Archaeology in 2013 and 2014.
  • Studies done on the murals of Santa Rita revealed them to be of Mixtec influence.
  • The murals were found on Structure 1, located 580 yards northeast of Structure 7.
  • This building faced north and all the walls were well preserved except for the southern wall.
  • Thomas Gann had published complete drawings of the murals on the north and west walls, but only managed to partially record the mural on the east wall before they were all destroyed by local inhabitants.
  • A safe estimate for the dates of these murals placed them in the Postclassic, between AD 1350 and 1500.
  • The scenes of the murals were framed above by a Mixtec skyband and below by a band that defined the earth.
  • These were similar in style to the Mixtec codices. The murals seem to show a procession of individuals, some with their wrists tied either with rope or a serpent, while others carry ritual objects. In another scene, 2 figures flank an upright drum, and while one of them is beating a drum the other is holding two decapitated heads.
  • The colors used on these murals include red, yellow, blue, green, black, white and grey, while dark blue and pink were used in the background.
  • While the imagery was Mixtec, the hieroglyphics on the murals were Maya. 

PHOTO GALLERY - Santa Rita