The Classic Maya city of Kohunlich, set some 60km from Chetumal, then another 9km off the road from the village of Francisco Villa.

The ruins, seldom visited by anyone other than enormous butterflies and wild parrots, are beautifully situated, peering out above the treetops. The buildings date from the late pre-Classic to the Classic periods (100–900 AD) and the majority are in the Río Bec architectural style. Foliage has reclaimed most of them, except for the Templo de los Mascarones, which is named after the five two-metre-high stucco masks that decorate its facade. Disturbing enough now, these wide-eyed, open-mouthed images of the sun god, Kinich Ahau, once stared out from a background of smooth, bright-red-painted stucco.

Also look for an elite residential area called the 27 Escalones, worth the detour to see the great views over the jungle canopy from the cliff edge on which it is built (prime real estate was just as valuable 1400 years ago, it seems).

The original name of the settlement is unknown. The name comes from the English Kohunlich Cohoon ridge (lomerío of Corozos), which refers to the existence of corozo palms, characteristic species of Peten area. In 1912, the site was first visited by the American archaeologist Raymond Merwin, when the place was known as Clarksville, referring to the logging camp three kilometers north of the monumental area of Kohunlich was.

Cultural Significance: Settlement It is located in the area where they live a flat landscape with underground drainage and hilly with hills, small streams and washes. It is made up of civic and ceremonial architectural complexes and residential units, surrounded by fertile land for cultivation, located in an area of 14 km2. The first occupation of Kohunlich is located in the Late Preclassic (300 BC -250 AD) stage were built in low-rise platforms around the Plaza Ya'axná, buildings in the Early Classic monumental buildings were covered. During this period, the Temple of the Masks, decorated with eight figures molded in stucco with polychrome, red and black colors on masonry frames, of which only five are preserved erected.

His iconography represents real people, wearing sun-related attributes. During the Late Classic (600-900 AD), Kohunlich population peaked, a period in which most of the structures that can be seen today as the Stela Plaza and all channels (civic complexes were built ceremonial), the Joint Northwest late Pixa'an Joint structures and all the 27 Steps (both elite residential complexes). Settlement growth continued until the early Post Classic (1000-1200 AD), a period in which the Maya placed offerings of incense in temples and platforms conditioned rooms and around the main building or in the housing complexes.

Services available area services unit, parking, restrooms and locker for issuing tickets.

Hours Monday through Sunday from 8:00 to 17:00 hours (accessed at 16:30 hrs.).

Quintana Roo INAH Center. Insurgentes 974, Colonia Blacksmiths, Chetumal, Quintana Roo. CP 77025. Tels. 01 (983) 837 24 11 and 837 0796, ext. 318002 and 318003.

Footwear and comfortable clothing, sun protection, hat, water repellent.

To reach the archaeological site of Kohunlich Federal Highway 186 (Chetumal-Escárcega) is taken, it continues to the town Francisco Villa, and then the deviation after 9 kilometers, leading to the archaeological site.