Located on the eastern bank of the Mopan River, at 130km by road west and south of Belize City, at the Guatemalan border, Benque Viejo del Carmen is the westernmost town in Belize. It was first settled by Maya from Noh Petén (subsequent Flores, El Petén, now in Guatemala), the last independent Maya state, conquered by the Spanish barely in 1697. It grew as a lumber camp, and the Mayas had been catechized by Spanish Catholic missionaries. Benque has long been the place where tourists and merchants cross to Melchor and purchase Maya textiles.
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