Joya de Cerén, meaning "Jewel of Cerén" in Spanish, is a pre-Columbian Maya farming village located 36 kilometers northwest of San Salvador in El Salvador's La Libertad Department. It is often likened to the renowned Roman ruins of Pompeii, and is renowned for its remarkable preservation of a Classic period settlement that was buried by an eruption of the Loma Caldera in approximately 600 AD. It is of special significance due to the abundance of paleoethnobotanical remains found at the site, including the first instance of manioc cultivation ever discovered in the New World. It is estimated the settlement was occupied between 200 and 600 AD, and was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1993. Now, Joya de Cerén is a popular tourist destination in El Salvador.