Hiking Expedition To Villa Maya and Mayan Ruins

Once you meet the guide at the meeting point, and start the adventure, transportation will take you to the center of Cozumel.

Ground transportation is by car or a van, depending on the number of participants.

It is the most important and best studied pre-Hispanic center of the documented settlements of the Mayans on the Island of Cozumel.

San Gervasio is considered the center of pilgrimages of the Mayans who worshiped the goddess "Ixchel". In addition, it was a strategic site for trade and political development in the area. The area is made up of six architectural complexes and other isolated temples, which are of great interest and give you an idea of how the Mayans developed their administrative, religious activities and daily life that are linked by a network of “Sacbes” or white roads.

Starting in the year 1000, with the emergence of Chichén Itzá as the great political and economic center of the peninsula, the site was integrated into an increasingly intense economic network, which would lead it to become the great city that it was after 1200 AD During the late Postclassic period (1200 – 1450 AD), most of the buildings that can be seen today were built, establishing a network of smaller communities, dependent on San Gervasio and located throughout the island.

Spanish chroniclers refer to the various Mayan settlements that existed in Cozumel upon their arrival, linking them to the cult of the goddess Ixchel, patron saint of medicine, childbirth and weaving. However, these references correspond to a currently destroyed site, which was located on the site of the current city of San Miguel de Cozumel, where the oracle dedicated to this goddess was located. In San Gervasio no archaeological evidence has been found that relates it to the cult of Ixchel.

Villa Maya is a private natural reserve that it has the objective to conserve the natural resources. It is located 17 km outside of San Miguel down town, on the center of Cozumel Island.

Villa Maya has a cultural heritage that the ansesters left behind, expirence cultural and archaeolgical expeditions, which are usually unseen by the casual island visitors. It is also the safest way to visit the tropical dry forest. The reserve was initiated as a conservation project that evolved into a research and eco-tourism project, focusing on the ethical protection of the island’s natural beauty.