Visit Joya de Cerén

Discover the country's most important Mayan site, buried for centuries under volcanic ash.

Drawing comparisons with Pompeii, the pre-Hispanic farming community of Joya de Cerén was buried in up to 20 feet of ash when the Laguna Caldera Volcano erupted in AD 600, and the incredibly well preserved remains offer an insight into the day to day lives of rural communities of the time: how they cultivated their crops, built their homes and cooked and stored their food.

One hour north of San Salvador, Joya de Cerén was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1993 and houses an excellent museum with multilingual information boards.