THE PLACE
Cocoa, an ancient art of the present day
Our reception is a replica of the old Hacienda Uxmal, formerly the Peon family's sugar hacienda, built around the 16th century.
It maintains its architecture intact in honor of its colonial and Mayan past, having been built on ancient Mayan ruins. It adapts the spaces to recover the history of cacao, while at the same time it is a refuge that welcomes the local flora and fauna.
EXHIBITION
A museum of today
-
Choco-Story is an interactive museum, which puts its visitors as protagonists, moving away from all conventionality.
-
We have 6 permanent rooms, each of which represents an important aspect in the history of cocoa, a timeline from the fruit to chocolate today.
CACAO
Recovering millenary history
-
The cacao tree grows wild in the northwestern part of the Amazon basin. The Olmecs were the first to cultivate cacao more than 2,000 years BC.
-
The Maya continued this tradition. At that time, cocoa was a ritual concoction called "chokoj ha" (hot water) composed of roasted and ground cocoa beans, mixed with water and spices (bell pepper, pepper and flowers). At that time, the cocoa bean was also used as currency.
-
In the 14th century, the Aztecs invaded the Mayan territory. The importance of cocoa was maintained and strengthened until the arrival of the Spaniards, who imported cocoa to Europe, where chocolate as we know it today was born.