San Gervasio (Maya site)

San Gervasio
	Ruins at San Gervasio
Location	San Miguel de Cozumel, Quintana Roo, Mexico
Region	Quintana Roo
Coordinates	20°30′01″N 86°50′54″W / 20.500351°N 86.848297°W
History
Founded	Early Classic
Abandoned	Between 1520 and 1600
Periods	Early Classic to Colonial
Cultures	Maya civilization
Architecture
Architectural styles	Mayapan and East Coast styles

San Gervasio is an archaeological site of the pre-Columbian Maya civilization, located in the northern third of the island of Cozumel off the northeastern coast of the Yucatán Peninsula, in what is now the Mexican state of Quintana Roo. San Gervasio's pre-Hispanic name was Tantun Cuzamil, Mayan for Flat Rock in the place of the Swallows. The ruins were once a hub of worship of the goddess Ix Chel, an aged deity of childbirth, fertility, medicine, and weaving. Pre-Columbian Maya women would try to travel to San Gervasio and make offerings at least once in their lives. In 1560, the Spanish historian, Diego Lopez de Cogolludo, wrote: "The pilgrims arrive at Cozumel for the fulfillment of their vows to offer their sacrifices, to ask help for their needs, and for the mistaken adoration of their false gods." The bishop of Yucatán, Diego de Landa, wrote in 1549 that the Maya "held Cozumel in the same veneration as we have for pilgrimages to Jerusalem and Rome, and so they used to go to visit and offer presents there, as we do to holy places; and if they did not go themselves, they always sent their offerings."^[1]

^ FPMCQROO brochure that accompanies the purchase of each ticket to the park. This brochure also refers readers to the website EverythingCozumel.com^{[permanent dead link]} for further information.

[1] FPMCQROO brochure that accompanies the purchase of each ticket to the park. This brochure also refers readers to the website EverythingCozumel.com^{[permanent dead link]} for further information.

[1]