Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Corozal town, was founded as a small settlement around 1800 BC. It appears to have
been continuously occupied until the arrival of the Spanish, by which time it was in all
probability the powerful Maya city known as Chactemal (Chetumal), which dominated
regional trade. It was certainly still thriving in 1531 AD, when the conquistador
Alonso Dávila
entered the town, which had been tactically abandoned by its
inhabitants; he was driven out almost immediately by Na Chan Kan, the Maya chief,
and his Spanish adviser Gonzalo Guerrero (see p.226).
Being so close to modern-day Mexico, it's not surprising that the site shares many
attributes with ruins found to the north.
Pottery
discovered here connects the site
with others in Yucatán, and, before it was bulldozed in the late 1970s, Structure 1
contained superb, Mixtec-style Postclassic murals similar to those found at Tulum in
Quintana Roo. Due to this destruction, and the strong possibility that much of the
ancient city lies beneath present-day Corozal, the only visible remains of Santa Rita
are a few mounds and Structure 7, a fairly small but attractive
pyramid
. Burials
excavated here include that of an elaborately jewelled elderly woman, dated to the
Early Classic period, and the tomb of a Classic-period warlord, interred with the
symbols of his elite status.
2
Cerros
On southern shore of Corozal Bay, 2.5 miles north of Copper Bank • Daily 8am-5pm • Bz$20
On a peninsula jutting from the southern shore of Corozal Bay (roughly 10 miles
south of Corozal, and 2.5 miles north of Copper Bank) is the Preclassic Maya centre of
Cerros
, also called Cerro Maya. The site benefited from its position at the mouth of the
New River, which enabled it to dominate regional water-borne trade. Beginning
around 50 BC, it grew in only two generations from a small fishing village to a major
city, one of the first to be ruled by a king. A canal bordered the central area, providing
drainage for the town and the raised field system that sustained it. Despite initial
success, however, Cerros was abandoned by the Classic period, made obsolete by
shifting trade routes. The site today contains three large acropolis structures, ball-courts
and plazas flanked by pyramids. The largest structure is a 72ft temple with superb views
of Corozal from its summit. Keep an eye out for the temple's intricate
stucco masks
,
THE MEXICAN BORDER
The Mexican border is only nine miles north of Corozal; the journey by bus or car takes about
an hour, including the
Santa Elena border crossing
in Belize, on the south side of the Río
Hondo. Most northbound buses heading into Mexico will take you to the
bus terminal
in
Chetumal (with plenty of onward express services up the coast to Cancún, or inland to Mexico
City). After you've cleared Belizean immigration, the bus carries you to the Mexican
immigration and customs posts on the northern bank.
Border formalities for entering Mexico are straightforward, and few Western nationalities
need a visa; simply pick up and fill out a
Mexican tourist card
. If you want visa advice, check
with the Mexican embassy in Belmopan City. Note that when you depart Belize via a land
border, you need to pay an exit fee of Bz$37.50, payable in Belize or US dollars.
Entering
Belize
from Mexico is also simple: there's no fee, and you'll get a maximum of thirty days by
filling out the Belize immigration form.
In between the two border posts lies the
Corozal Free Zone/Zona Libre Belice
(
T
423
7010,
W
belizecorozalfreezone.com), a fairly chaotic area of duty-free shops which all sell pretty
much the same range of cut-rate electronic and household goods, clothes, shoes and canned
food. Note that the Free Zone caters mainly to shoppers on the Mexican side of the border,
because visitors from Belize will have to pay the exit fee before entering the Free Zone, which
is a major deterrent to any savings; also, note that there are restrictions and duties on goods
brought into Belize.
