Joya de Ceren is a pre-Columbian site of El Salvador located in the vicinity of San Juan Opico and Las Flores, in the department of La Libertad, in the central region of El Salvador. It was inhabited at least since the year 400 by an agricultural town tributary of San Andrés and was abandoned around the year 600 because of the eruption of the Caldera Lagoon. The site makes it possible to appreciate the daily life of a Mayan farmer village of 1400 years ago (seventh century), the only known in El Salvador
It is one of the most important archaeological sites in Mesoamerica because it shows what the life of ordinary people was like. That is why it is often called the Pompeii of America, compared to the archaeological site of Pompeii, located in Italy.
It has been named Historical World Heritage, as they are the only ruins of pre-Columbian time where the daily life of the inhabitants of that period of history can be appreciated. Other indigenous ruins were considered ceremonial centers.