Isla Mujeres History, Mexico

The history for the city of Isla Mujeres has been very colorful when compared to that of other cities in the country of Mexico. During the times when Maya Civilization was present in this city of Isla Mujeres, the city was the center point where the temple for the Mayan Goddess of fertility, Ixchel, was built. The beautiful temple was located somewhere in the south of the island and it was also used as lighthouse during those historical years. Various torches were used and light of those torches were thrown out from the holes in walls of the temple. This light would help the sailors understand that they were close to the island. The Mayan civilization also successfully harvested salt from various salt lagoons.

Later on it was the year 1517 when the Spanish Army under the leadership of Francisco Hernandez Cordova discovered entered the island. They found the presence of many women goddess in this island and hence called it the island of women (which in the local language stands for Isla Mujeres).

For the coming three centuries not much human intervention was done by humans into this island and mostly the pirates or the fishermen used to arrive on this island for short periods as resting point. Many pirates used to leave their females in this island for safety and you will surely hear many tales saying that they also buried their stolen money into the beaches of this island itself. Some very famous pirates like Jean Lafitte and Henry Morgan were some of the many pirates who had visited this island.

It was after the independence of Mexico that some settlements popped up in one section of this island. This section today is the downtown area of Isla Mujeres. It was during the fight for independence when many villagers took refuge in different places like Isla Mujeres, Holbox, and Cozumel. Fishermen around the area found the waters around the island of Isla Mujeres very rich in fishes and hence they started to settle down in this island. This is how slowly the population for the island of Isla Mujeres started to grow and the city gained recognition nationally due to the increases in fish business.