1000Places : photos : 2005-Route of the Maya : SAN SALVADOR, EL SALVADOR - Our first stop was at the Metropolitan Cathedral, built on the site of the Old San Salvador Cathedral. When the original church was consumed by fire, construction of the new concrete and steel cathedral was begun. But it took until 1999 to finish it.- powered by SmugMug

We follow in the footsteps of the ancient Maya.

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1000places > Nearly 10 years after we had last left the land of the ancient Maya, we returned to Central America to revisit ruins seen before and explore those that had previously eluded us. From November 13 to 26, 2005, we reentered the "Forest of Kings" with 11 other seasoned travelers and journeyed for more than 2,000 kilometers from El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala, and Belize. This is the photo journal of our trip along La Ruta Maya.

1000places > "All was mystery, dark, impenetrable mystery, and every circumstance increased it," wrote 19th century Maya explorer John Lloyd Stephens.Today, more than 160 years after Stephens' journeys and 1500 years after the Maya reached their cultural zenith, archaeologists have barely scratched the surface of their ancient world. But the Maya are hardly a vanished people. More than 4 million still live in an area about half the size of Texas. This is our photo journal as we followed the footsteps of the Maya and discovered that there is still mystery and splendor...in an ancient civilization and in its descendants.

1000places > SAN SALVADOR, EL SALVADOR - Our trip began in El Salvador at a hotel across the street from the Chulan (or "Hombre Desnuda - Naked Man, as the locals call it), a towering tribute to the country's liberation.

1000places > SAN SALVADOR, EL SALVADOR - Like much of Central America, San Salvador is flanked by volcanoes. Looming over the city is El Boqueron, an active volcano that last erupted in 1917.

1000places > SAN SALVADOR, EL SALVADOR - Our first stop was at the Metropolitan Cathedral, built on the site of the Old San Salvador Cathedral. When the original church was consumed by fire, construction of the new concrete and steel cathedral was begun. But it took until 1999 to finish it.

1000places > SAN SALVADOR, EL SALVADOR - Rising 148 feet above the ground floor of the Metropolitan Cathedral is the bright Churriguresque cupula. It has a radius of 79 feet.

1000places > SAN SALVADOR, EL SALVADOR - One of the magnificant stained glass windows at the Metropolitan Cathedral.

1000places > SAN SALVADOR, EL SALVADOR - Beneath the Cathedral is the crypt of Archbishop Óscar Arnulfo Romero y Galdámez, an outspoken advocate for the poor and victims of El Salvador's civil war. In 1980, he was assassinated while consecrating the Eucharist during mass, provoking an international outcry for human rights reform. In 1997, a cause for sainthood was opened for the archbishop which continues today.

SAN SALVADOR, EL SALVADOR - Our first stop was at the Metropolitan Cathedral, built on the site of the Old San Salvador Cathedral. When the original church was consumed by fire, construction of the new concrete and steel cathedral was begun. But it took until 1999 to finish it.