Museo Cultura Cotzumalguapa


At the headquarters of the Finca Las Ilusiones sugarcane plantation, you’ll find this museum, which holds a collection of sculptures found around Las Ilusiones' lands. There is some explanatory material and you'll probably be shown around by caretaker René Hernández.

The museum includes a reconstruction of a sacrificial altar with the original stones, and photos of some fine stelae that were removed to the Dahlem Museum in Berlin in 1880. The most impressive exhibit, Monumento 21, is actually a fiberglass copy of a stone that still stands in the fields of Finca Bilbao (part of Las Ilusiones' plantations), depicting what may be a shaman holding a sort of puppet on the left, a ball-game player in the middle with a knife in one hand, and a king or priest on the right holding what may be a heart. Another copy of this stone, along with one of Monumento 19, lies on the ground across the street from the museum. Along the road just before the bridge to the finca house are copies of some of the sculptures from El Baúl museum.

To find the museum, head about 1.5km east of the town center on Carretera al Pacífico (Hwy 2). Take a left shortly before the Tecún farm supplies depot and travel about 400m north.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby attractions

3. Las Piedras

0.79 MILES

Monumento 21, a copy of which is in the Museo Cultura Cotzumalguapa, still stands with three other fine sculpted stones in the Finca Bilbao cane fields to…

4. El Baúl Hilltop Site

2.09 MILES

With two great carved stones, this archaeological site has the additional fascination of being an active place of pagan worship for local people. Maya…

5. Museo El Baúl

3.1 MILES

This museum, about 2.75km on foot or 5km by vehicle from El Baúl hilltop site, comprises a very fine open-air assemblage of Pipil stone sculpture…

6. Museo Regional de Arqueología

8.52 MILES

Facing La Democracia's main plaza – along with the expected church and palacio municipal (city hall) – is this small modern museum that houses some…

7. Plaza

8.53 MILES

At the archaeological site of Monte Alto, on the outskirts of La Democracia, huge basalt heads and pot-bellied sculptures have been discovered, probably…

8. Casa del Tejido Antiguo

21.29 MILES

This space is like a museum, market and workshop all rolled into one, with exhibits on regional outfits and daily demonstrations of backstrap weaving…