If you are looking for a beautiful, relaxing place to escape the pressures and stresses of daily life, Corozal Town, Belize is a great option. The Corozal Town location is just nine miles from the border of Mexico and just 84 miles from Belize City. The location of Corozal Town makes it easy to explore lots of different places and scenery during your vacation. Staying in one of the local resorts around the bay is a terrific way to recharge your batteries and renew your spirit. Corozal Bay offers gorgeous, natural scenery and a variety of outdoor experiences, cultural events, dining, night life and more.
To understand why Corozal Town is so unique, you have to learn a little history and information. In 1848 while the Mayan Indians were rebelling and uprising against the Spaniards in the nearby Yucatan, refugees of the conflict fled to the northernmost part of Belize and established Corozal Town. The war, also known as The War of the Castes, began as a war against the Spaniards but evolved into a fight against the Mestizos as well. The Mestizos were a people of half Spanish and half Indian descent and the war between the three factions forced thousands of people to flee their homes and seek refuge in Corozal Town.
The influx of thousands of refugees seeking shelter from the raging wars led the then magistrate of the town, James Blake, to allow the refugees to settle the land and he helped them establish crops of sugar cane so they could support themselves and enjoy a stable, secure livelihood in their new homeland. With a diverse ethnic mix and cultural backgrounds, the new Corozal Town inhabitants brought with them varied languages, religious viewpoints, family structures and cultural practices, traditions and beliefs. From Catholicism to Maya folklore and Yucatec Mayan speakers to Spanish speakers, Corozal Town was a melting pot that provided shelter, security and a new lease on life for the refugees who sought a life free from the Castes War that raged all around them.
To maintain their safety and preserve their new way of life, Corozal Town’s residents became a garrison town and in 1870, Fort Barlee was built to help safeguard the town and its inhabitants. Today, the brick constructed corner supports of Fort Barlee surround the post office complex across from the town’s central square.
Another great attraction in Corozal Town are the ruins of Santa Rita. Santa Rita is a pyramid site that sits atop the remains of a once powerful Mayan city that ruled the ancient Mayan world for more than 2,000 years. Burial sites in Santa Rita have yielded jewelry and other artifacts that help scholars put together the many remaining puzzle pieces of this once mighty, powerful and industrious civilization.
Across the Corozal Bay stand the mounds of Cerros, the first coastal trading center of the Mayans. Cerros is considered one of the most important sites of the late preclassic Mayan civilization as it was the first experiment with kingship in the Maya world. Ballcourts, plazas, temples, canals and other minor structures can be explored in the ruins and offers visitors a one of a kind experience that can help them see how the great Mayas once lived, worked, worshiped and played.
Whether you want to reconnect with your ancestral roots, explore new territories, get an insight to history or simply luxuriate in the beauty and splendor of Corozal Bay, Corozal Town offers a unique travel experience that will delight visitors of all ages and activity levels. With beautiful resorts, a location that makes getting there easy, a rich and diverse cultural history, archaeological sites that offer a glimpse into the past and a crystal clear bay that welcomes you to relax, enjoy and unwind, a vacation to a resort in Corozal offers everything you need to truly enjoy a well deserved get away.
For hundreds of years, Corozal Town and Bay have welcomed visitors, settlers and people of all races, ethnicity and cultures. Answer the siren call of the beautiful bay and plan to spend your next vacation in timeless Corozal Town.