Museo de la Cultura Maya

The Museo de la Cultura Maya stands on Avenida de los Héroes at the corner of Mahatma Gandhi, at the northern end of central Chetumal. It is the state's largest museum devoted to the Maya, covering the civilisation across what are now Mexico, Guatemala and Belize rather than any single site.

The museum opened in stages: the temporary galleries, auditorium and public areas in April 1993 and the large permanent hall in September 1994. The permanent exhibition occupies a former electrical substation from the 1940s whose interior was gutted and rebuilt with a basement and mezzanine. It is laid out on three levels around a reproduction of the Yaxché, the sacred ceiba of Maya cosmology: Xibalbá, the underworld, below; the everyday world on the main floor; and the heavens above. A recreated jungle cuts diagonally through all three floors with recorded calls of birds and howler monkeys from the region.

The eight rooms deal with farming and the central place of maize, trade, architecture and city planning, belief, mathematics, astronomy and the calendar, and contact with other peoples and the Spanish. Most of what is on show are reproductions and scale models rather than original finds: large models of Maya cities (some seen through a glass floor), copies of murals and codices, and facades such as the Chenes-style temple of Hochob. A full-size traditional Maya house stands in the garden, and the forecourt and park in front of the building host temporary exhibitions and events. It makes a good introduction before visiting Kohunlich, Dzibanché or Oxtankah.