Heritage in Focus: Submerged Crocodile (Lamanai, Belize)
Photographer Morena Pérez Joachin documents the archaeological site of Lamanai, a former Maya city where sustainable tourism could widen the rich cultural landscape's narrative.
By World Monuments Fund
Morena Pérez Joachin
Largest temple at Lamanai below shower of stars at night by Morena Pérez JoachinWorld Monuments Fund
At night, portals of time and space seem to open in the darkness. But the night sky is also the canvas on which Maya mythology traces its symbols.
Lamanai at night by Morena Pérez JoachinWorld Monuments Fund
It is in this starlit spot that the archaeological site of Lamanai reveals a history intertwined with ancient cosmic beliefs.
Residential and administrative complex at night by Morena Pérez JoachinWorld Monuments Fund
Maya cosmology centers on an enormous crocodile floating in a primordial sea.
Indigenous man carrying offerings by Morena Pérez JoachinWorld Monuments Fund
The Earth itself, according to this vision of the universe, is conceived as a giant crocodile.
Slithering in the darkness of the night, this scaly creature connects earth and sky, past and present. The crocodile's symbolism also evokes water, the nahuales of creativity and ideas, and madness.
Crocodile skull found in the lagoon at Indian Church, near Lamanai Archaeological Site by Morena Pérez JoachinWorld Monuments Fund
The very name of Lamanai pays homage to this powerful animal. In Yucatec Maya, laman a inn means "submerged crocodile."
Venerated as gods by the Maya, crocodiles are carved into the walls of Lamanai's temples.
To cross the lagoon around Lamanai is to immerse yourself in history and mythology. Some of the local inhabitants, mostly men, feel a connection with the submerged crocodiles.
Mask Temple, whose faces are cut from limestone blocks and adorned with a headdress representing a crocodile by Morena Pérez JoachinWorld Monuments Fund
In the blink of an eye, the real crocodiles around me seem to take possession of the faces carved in stone, vigilant against the passage of time.
Crocodile skull near Lamanai by Morena Pérez JoachinWorld Monuments Fund
The memory of Lamanai is kept alive thanks to the young Belizeans who recreate their ancestors' cultural legacy. The affirmation of their identity bridges past and present.
Palm fronds by Morena Pérez JoachinWorld Monuments Fund
The submerged crocodile is an entity that transcends time, making the past come alive in the present.
Main residential zone of Lamanai by Morena Pérez JoachinWorld Monuments Fund
Mythology and reality merge in a symbolic embrace.
When I visit Lamanai, the scales of an invisible crocodile brush against my skin until the creature seems to possess me completely.
Ceiba tree root by Morena Pérez JoachinWorld Monuments Fund
It is as though the crocodile's eyes have come to gaze at us.
Heritage in Focus is a collaboration between World Monuments Fund (WMF) and Magnum Foundation to aid local emerging photographers in capturing historic places and their stewards. Lamanai, Belize, was included on the World Monuments Watch in 2022. Since then, WMF has highlighted the opportunity for sustainable tourism practices at Lamanai that enrich the narrative of the diverse and layered cultural landscape.
The photographers of Heritage in Focus were tasked with documenting the sites of the 2022 World Monuments Watch. The featured sites are Asante Traditional Buildings, Ghana (Eric Gyamfi); Garcia Pasture, USA (Tahila Moss); Heritage Buildings of Beirut, Lebanon (Elsie Haddad); Hitis of the Kathmandu Valley, Nepal (Prasiit Sthapit and Shristi Shrestha) ; Kinchela Aboriginal Boys Training Home, Australia (Tace Stevens); Lamanai, Belize (Morena Pérez Joachin); La Maison du Peuple, Burkina Faso (Adrien Bitibaly); Sumba Island, Indonesia (Fransisca Angela); Teotihuacán, Mexico (Yael Martínez); Tiretta Bazaar, India (Soumya Sankar Bose); and Yanacancha-Huaquis Cultural Landscape, Peru (Victor Zea and Diego López Calvín).
Acknowledgments
We thank the Belize Institute of Archaeology for making this photography project possible by providing access to the site.
Heritage in Focus has been made possible, in part, by support from Nora McNeely Hurley and Manitou Fund; Donna Perret Rosen; Lorna B. Goodman; The Donald A. Pels Charitable Trust; and Monika McLennan.
