El Cedral

On our way back to town, Tommie took us to El Cedral. I hadn't been there for at least 20 years. What I had remembered was a small Mayan ruin, a small church and a woman with a monkey and an iguana. To see the ruin and the church was free, the pictures we shot of the animals, however, were not!


This time at Cedral, I saw a very different place. Old hacienda style houses line the dirt road that winds its way behind the ruin. Our friend, Edwin, had told us that his extended family has a house down there that they open for a festival that's held at the end of April each year. They together with several other "original" families of the island help make this festival of food, music, folklore dancing, horse racing, and bullfights happen. The festival is over 150 years old!


The place together with the festival made me curious about its more ancient history. Apparently, Mayans settled the island with El Cedral as their hub about 2,000 years ago. In addition to being a commercial trade stop, the island became a sacred shrine. Women came by canoe to worship of the goddess of fertility.


Cozumel was found by Spanish explorers in 1518 and it's thought that the first Catholic Mass in Mexico was held on the island. Hernan Cortes came in 1519 bringing smallpox and a disdain for the Mayan culture. The Mayan population shrunk from about 40,000 to 30 by 1570 and their temples lay in ruins. By 1600, the island was uninhabited.


In 1848, several families from around Vallodolid fled the mainland during the War of the Castes and settled in Cozumel. These are the "original" families I mentioned above. Most of these families continue to own both land in town and land in Cedral where the farming was done.


After our visit and my limited research, I have definitely added Cedral as one of my favorite places on this island of special places and people.