Centro Histórico de Chetumal

Chetumal's Centro Histórico was the first Barrio Mágico in Mexico: the federal Tourism Secretariat (SECTUR) handed over the designation on 29 November 2022, a few weeks after launching the programme. It is not a colonial core, since the city was only founded in 1898 as Payo Obispo, but the grid of streets running from Avenida de los Héroes down to the bay, spread over Colonia Centro, Barrio Bravo and part of Plutarco Elías Calles. The designated area links 18 points, from the Parque del Renacimiento and the ferry terminal to the old market, the Callejón del Arte and the Hospital Morelos.

What sets the district apart are its Anglo-Caribbean wooden houses, the last trace of Payo Obispo's first settlers; more than twenty still stand unrestored around the centre. To picture the early town, visit the Museo Maqueta de Payo Obispo on Boulevard Bahía at 22 de Enero, opposite the state Congress: Luis Reinhardt McLiberty built about 167 houses by hand, the museum opened in 1991 and reopened in April 2026 with QR-code displays and a mural by Gerardo Barragán.

Avenida de los Héroes holds the 1930s architecture. The Hospital Morelos went up between 1936 and 1938, is attributed to the architect Manuel Amábilis and was decorated by the sculptor Rómulo Rozo, who made its Art Deco relief, the Fountain of Health; the Belisario Domínguez school dates from the same years. At the corner of Mahatma Gandhi stands the Allegory of Mestizaje, a 35 by 19 metre sculpture made by Carlos Terrés in 1981, inscribed to Gonzalo Guerrero, the Spanish sailor shipwrecked on the peninsula who lived among the Maya and fathered mestizo children. Next to it is the Ignacio Manuel Altamirano market, the "old market", with stalls serving regional food, successor to the Miguel Alemán market of 1946.

The district is still a work in progress: sidewalks are broken in places, lighting is weak at night and many residents had not heard of the designation; the state government announced about 10 million pesos for 2026. The Feria de la Frontera Sur falls on 28 October, the feast of Saint Jude, and a Caribbean culture festival takes place in November.