Maya Museum Opens in Cancun, Mexico

Pyramid of Kukulkan at Chichen Izta near Cancun, Mexico.The Cancun Convention and Visitors Bureau held the inauguration of Cancun's Maya Museum, and Mexico's president, Felipe Calderon, officiated over the ceremony on Nov. 1, 2012.

With an investment of approximately $15 million, 70 percent of which was contributed by the federal government through the National Institute of Anthropology and History. Cancun’s Maya Museum includes 350 archeological artifacts that includes relics that have never been shown as well as others that were discovered in recent excavations. Other displays in the museum were previously exhibited at different venues like the Museo Regional de Yucatan or “Canton Palace” and the former Archeological Museum of Cancun

Cancun’s Maya Museum boasts three exhibition halls, two permanent and one temporary venue for national and international exhibitions. An exhibition of 14,000-year-old skeletal remains is the first things to explore when visitors enter the museum.

The first exhibition room of the museum is dedicated to the Mayan population that resided on what is now Quintana Roo and pays special focus to the remains of La Mujer de las Palmas or “The Woman of the Palms.” Wildlife and stone tools of this time period are also displayed here.

The second exhibition room, the Sala Maya or “Maya Room,” showcases aspects of Mayan architecture, art and other artifacts that ancient Mayans used on a daily basis. Sculptures and architectural fragments of Chichen Itza, the Yucatan and a collection of ancient engraved bricks from the city of Comalcalco in Tabasco are also exhibited.

Five buildings are open to the public: The Great Pyramid, a 26 foot structure where the main building is located; The South, comprising of residential units, palace-style building and small altars; Dragons, a temple adorned with fragments of ancient mural paintings of animals and marine elements. Next to the Maya Museum, the San Miguelito archeological site recently opened as well.

The Maya Museum and San Miguelito are located on Km 16 on Kukulkan Boulevard in Cancun’s Hotel Zone. The museum is open Tuesday to Sunday from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., except on Thursday (7 a.m. to 10 p.m.). Tickets cost around $5 for access to both the museum and San Miguelito site. Children under 13 and adults over 60 years old receive free admission. On Sunday, admission is free to local residents with official identification.

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