Lamanai

“Lamanai” means submerged crocodile; it is believed that this is one of the sites that still keeps the name used since the time of the Mayas. It is one of the earliest dating sites that continued up until the Spanish and British arrived. Two Spanish churches were constructed at the site, the first of these was built in 1544 and the second was built at the beginning of the seventeenth century. The Spanish withdrew in the eighteenth century, and then it became a British interest. The sugarcane processing during the last quarter of the nineteenth century became productive and the British moved with their families to live in some of the Mayan mounds as bases for their houses. As a result, Lamanai bears the distinction of being the longest continuously occupied site in the Maya Lowland area.