- Address: Culvert Road Belmopan City, Belize;
- Phone: +501 223-4524, +501 822-3302;
- Official website: www.nichbelize.org;
- Opening hours: Tues.- Sat. from 09:00 to 16:30, Mon, Sun. - closed.
In Belize, you can not only enjoy a beach holiday and admire the natural beauty, there are many cultural attractions , one of which is the Belize Museum.
The history of the construction of the Belize Museum
The Belize Museum is a whole complex, which is designated Gabournel, which occupies a convenient place on the coast of the Caribbean Sea. The period of construction of the building fell from 1854 to 1857. Initially, it served as a departmental royal prison.
It is interesting that the walls of the building are made up of English bricks previously used as ballast on ships. Each camera had its own window, on top wrote the name of the person in it. By 1910, the place for all was not enough, and the main building was added another 9.14 m.
The entrance through which tourists pass today, once was the central corridor of the prison. It was here that public executions took place. The building repeatedly covered the fire, and some fires were so serious that the prisoners were transferred to other prisons nearby.
It was only in 1998 that the former prison was re-educated in the museum after the decision of the government was taken. The renovation of the premises, which was held with the financial support of Taiwan and Mexico, took another four years. Finally, on 7 February 2002 the Belize Museum was officially opened.
Exhibits of the Belize Museum
The exhibits are many artifacts associated with the Mayan era, which indicate a high culture of the tribe of the Indians. Here are the results of studies that have been carried out for many years. Tourists, visiting the museum, will learn everything about the colonial life of the country, the tribes that inhabited this territory earlier.
The main exhibits of the museum are items made in the Mayan era, a collection of unique stamps and coins, as well as postcards and photographs from years gone by. Visitors will be able to see a Kampesheva tree, a machaon and unusual insects.
The museum is divided into two floors - on the first there are rooms with postcards and objects telling the history of Belize for the last 350 years. The second is the most valuable artifacts - decorative steles with Mayan inscriptions, statuettes decorated with precious stones.