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 Isla
Mujeres has a long and colorful history. In Mayan times Isla
Mujeres was called Ekab, it was one of the four provinces or
Mayan territories that formed what is today the State of
Quintana Roo. The island served as the sanctuary for the goddess
Ixchel, the Mayan Goddess of fertility, reason, medicine,
happiness and the moon. The Temple was located at the South
point of the island and was also used as the lighthouse. The
light from torches was shown through holes in the walls, which
could be seen by the navigators at sea. The Mayans also came to
the island to harvest salt from the salt lagoons.
 In
March of the year 1517, Francisco Hernandez Cordova discovered
the island. When the Spanish expedition landed, they found many
female shaped idols representing the goddess Ixchel, thus Isla
Mujeres got its name.
"During Lent of 1517 Francisco Hernandez de Cordova sailed from
Cuba with three ships to procure slaves for the mines... (others
say he sailed to discover new lands). He landed on the Isla de
las Mujeres, to which he gave this name because the idols he
found there, of the goddesses of the country, "Ixchel" and her
daughters and daughter-in-law's "Ixchebeliax", "Ixhunie", "Ixhunieta",
only vestured from the girdled down, and having the breast
uncovered after the manner of the Indians. The building was of
stone, such as to astonished them, and they found certain
objects of gold which they took." Excerpt from "Yucatan, Before
and After the Conquest" written in 1566 by Friar Diego de Landa.
 For
the next three centuries Isla Mujeres was uninhabited. The only
visitors were fisherman and pirates who used Isla as a refuge
and left their women on the island "for safekeeping" while they
sailed the high seas. Famous pirates like Henry Morgan and Jean
Lafitte walked the shores of Isla and as legend goes, buried
their stolen treasure under the white sands.
After the Independence of Mexico, a small village began in what
is now downtown Isla Mujeres. During the wars many Mayans took
refuge on Cozumel, Holbox and Isla Mujeres. Mayan fisherman
found the waters around the island to be a fisherman's paradise
and the village slowly grew. In August of 1850, the governor of
the State of Yucatan, Don Miguel Barbacano, named the village,
Pueblo de Dolores.
The Legend of Mundaca the Pirate
 Fermin
Anonio Mundaca y Marecheaga was born in October of the year 1825
in the village Bermeo of Santa Maria, Spain. After completing
his studies he set out for the New World to make his fortune. He
arrived on the shores of Isla in 1858 after acquiring his wealth
selling captured Mayan slaves to Cuban plantations and some say
pirating. Weather or not this is true, no one knows but Mundaca
cultivated and enjoyed his reputation as a pirate.
Mundaca immediately set out building a large hacienda he named
"Vista Alegre" (Happy View) which eventually covered over 40% of
the island. There were areas for livestock, birds, vegetables
gardens, fruit orchards and exotic plants that were brought from
all over the world. A special garden called "The Rose of the
Winds" was constructed which served as a sundial telling the
time of the day by its shadows.
 In
1862 Martiniana (Prisca) Gomez Pantoja was born. She was one of
five sisters and it is been said that she was a willowy woman
with green eyes, white skin bronzed by the Caribbean sun and
long, straight hair. Called "La Triguena" (the brunette), many
men fell in love with her including Mundaca. The arches above
the gates were dedicated to her, naming them "The Entrance of
the Triguena" and "The Pass of the Triguena" in hopes his wealth
and power would win the local beauty 37 years younger then
himself. His dedication was in vain, she married a man closer to
her own age and as legend tells it, Fermin Mundaca slowly went
insane and died, alone in Merida. His empty tomb still awaits
him in the Isla Mujeres cemetery. Carved by his own hands are
the skull and cross bones, in memory of his pirating days and
the words meant for his love, "As you are, I was. As I am, you
will be".The Story of The Immaculate
Conception
By Enriqueta M. de Avila
More than 100 years ago in 1890 in the ancient colonial
settlement of Ecab (Boca Iglesia) at the northern tip of
Quintana Roo, several fishermen (one, my father-in-law,
Christiano Avila Celis), discovered three "sister" statues of
the Virgin. They were carved out of wood with their hands and
face made out of porcelain. And so it was said, each one of the
fishermen believing so strongly in the Catholic religion carried
a Virgin to his own village. It was also said that the Spaniards
had brought the "sisters" to Ecab many years before in about
1770. On Isla Mujeres the Virgin's first shrine was a small palm
and wood Chapel and at a later date moving "Her" to the place
that "She" presently occupies in the church was not easy. More
than eight men could scarcely lift her…upon finally moving
"Her", the small palm chapel burned down completely to the
astonishment of all those present. It is said that the Virgin
walks on the water around the island from dusk to dawn looking
for her "sisters". Some years ago an Islanders saw the Virgin
walking on the sea early in the morning. Later that morning her
dress was found to be contained burrs and sand.
At Izamal, Yucatan and Kantunilkin, Quintana Roo where the other
statues are, the feast is celebrated with mass from August 6th
to the 15th and from the 30th of November to the 8th of December
as on Isla Mujeres.
The "bajada" (descent) of the virgin is an unequaled event. More
than 3000 faithful gathered together in the main square year
after year to inaugurate a series of festivities that begin with
the procession of the virgin and climax on December eighth with
the grand fiesta in which all the inhabitants of the island and
visitors participate.Recent History
Long before Cancun was even a glint in developer's eyes, Isla
Mujeres open it's arms to tourists from around the world. Some
older residents of the island tell stories of tourists signaling
from a make-shift dock near where Puerto Juarez stands today.
Son's of local fisherman would take small launches over to the
mainland and pick up visitors for their stay on the island.
Eventually, Isla established a regular ferry service, making
runs to Puerto Juarez once or twice a day and in the last few
years, every half hour.
Isla Mujeres is the easternmost point of Mexico, the frontier of
eastern Mexico, and the Mexican Navy base was established in
1949 . Fishing was still the main source of income; it wasn't
until recent years that Tourism became a large part of the
island. In 1967, the Mexican Government and its water department
(C.A.P.A), with the help of many local divers, install an
under-the-sea purified water piping system, the first in the
world. The 6" pipes were replaced with 8" pipes in 1988 the same
year
 Hurricane Gilbert hit the island, which partially destroyed
the Mayan temple on the south point. The last few years have
seen tremendous improvements to the island including an
extensive drainage and sewer system, electric and phone service
to the various colonias, paved streets that allow rainwater to
drain and a high school.
If you are lucky enough to be vacationing on Isla December 31st,
it is a tradition for Isleños to greet the first rays of the sun
at the dawn of each new year at the south point, the most
eastern point of Mexico.
The people of Isla Mujeres are proud of their history and hold
in their hearts the magic of their island and the promising
future.
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