Cahal Pech Visitor Center is an on-site museum located in the northwestern part of the Cayo district. The medium sized ancient Maya ceremonial center is perched on a hilltop overlooking the picturesque town of San Ignacio. Recent excavations, consolidation and restoration have revealed masks, facades, terraces, stairways and large pyramidal structures.

Clusters of temples and palaces are arranged around a series of plazas on the six- acre grounds. During the Middle and Late Preclassic Periods, Cahal Pech (place of Ticks) may have been the primary ancient Maya center of the central Belize region. The Cahal Pech Visitor Center outlines the prehistory of the Cayo area from the archaic period (4000 BC) to the ancient Maya Postclassic (1100 A. D.). A major focus of the current exhibition is the role of the ancient site of Cahal Pech in the development of Maya civilization particularly in the Preclassic period (300 B.C. –250 A.D.)

(IR ARRIBA)