Felipe Carrillo Puerto, Q.R. — Government officials celebrated the reopening of one of the state’s ancient Mayan port cities. On Tuesday, Governor Mara Lezama toured the Muyil archaeological site with Mayor Mary Hernández.
The Tuesday tour was led by the National Institute of Anthropology and History Technical Secretary José Luis Perea González. He explained that Muyil was part of the program for the Improvement of Archaeological Zones (Promeza) promoted by the Ministry of Culture of the Government of Mexico.
He said through the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) and its representation in Quintana Roo, the Archaeological Zone of Muyil, an ancient Mayan city and port that had a long occupational continuity, from the Late Preclassic period (400 BC-200 AD), to the Early Postclassic (900-1200 AD), was reopened to the public.
“Muyil can become a laboratory for cultural public policy, demonstrating that heritage, the environment, and community development are not separate agendas,” he stated.
The official ceremony was led by Perea González who highlighted the cultural richness of Quintana Roo. He reported that 11 archaeological sites across the state received investment from the Promeza program, making it the state with the most sites benefiting from the Maya Train route.
State governor Mara Lezama acknowledged the work of the archaeologists who made the reopening possible as well as the inclusion of Mayan cooperatives, artisans, and ejido members in the project.
“Reopening Muyil is an act of memory, identity, and social justice,” she stated.
The mayor of Felipe Carrillo Puerto, Mary Hernández Solís stressed that these spaces should not be inaccessible to those who truly want to know the history of the municipality and the Mayan region.
The new infrastructure includes a public services unit built between March 2024 and November 2025.
It was constructed with a portico, guardhouse, ticket booths, restrooms, parking, signage and rest areas. It also offers visitors new trails and improvements to existing ones, an Educal Bookstore, crafts shop and information center. Administrative and research offices were also built.
As part of Promeza, roofs were also placed on Buildings 6 and 8 of the La Entrada Group, and on Building 4 of the Sacbé Group, and a camp was established for the archaeologists working on the heritage site.
Additionally, an introductory room presents information about the work carried out at Muyil, its importance, and the architectural complexes that comprise it. This space includes information panels and screens that will help visitors understand the history of the site in an educational way.
Enrique Alcalá Castañeda, the academic director of the Muyil Archaeological Zone Project, reported that between March 2023 and February 2024, work was carried out on 11 structures across three architectural complexes.
They include la Entrada, El Sacbé and La Gran Plataforma. The latter two were opened to the public, as previously only the La Entrada, Rosado, and El Castillo groups were accessible.
“The Sacbé Group is a complex that had ceremonial and possibly residential use. In the Great Platform group there are a couple of buildings used for ritual purposes, but most were residential and administrative,” he explained.
The archaeologist said that the investigations identified periods of abandonment and reuse of the spaces at different times. The most significant finds were ceramic, including fragments of incense burners and a ceremonial vessel with a shell pectoral, which served as an offering after the site was abandoned.
