CICOM Cultural Complex

The Centro de Investigaciones de las Culturas Olmeca y Maya, known locally by its acronym CICOM, occupies a riverside campus just south of the Zona Luz that was purpose-built in the 1970s to house Tabasco's academic and cultural institutions devoted to Olmec and Maya studies. Beyond its research function, the complex is open to the public and includes gallery spaces exhibiting archaeology and regional art, a public library, a theater used for concerts, film screenings and academic conferences, and one of Villahermosa's better-known riverside restaurants overlooking the Rio Grijalva. Visitors can walk the grounds and riverside promenade at any time, while the exhibit galleries keep set hours and typically rotate their displays more frequently than the fixed collection at the nearby Museo Regional de Antropologia a short walk north. Checking the complex's event calendar before visiting is worthwhile, since concerts, conferences or temporary exhibitions can add extra reasons to time a visit around a specific evening. A combined visit to the galleries and a walk along the riverside grounds takes about ninety minutes to two hours, and late afternoon works well both for the museum hours and for catching the river views at sunset from the restaurant terrace or promenade.