About Campeche
Campeche de San Francisco
Campeche (Kam-Peh-Che) has been one of Mexico’s best kept colonial secrets for many years; despite being one of its most picturesque colonial centers, it is still largely undiscovered by a large number of foreign tourists.
Campeche used to be the principal town of the Mayan province of Ah Kin Pech, which means “serpent tick.” The ancient Mayan temple of Edzna was first occupied around 600 BC and was abandoned by 1500 AD. Archaeologist and historians believe that Edzna may have been the seat of the Itza prior to their moving to Chichen Itza.
Originally an old Mayan trading port, Campeche is the capital city of the State which bears its name. Although the Spaniards came to Campeche in 1517, the opposition they were greeted with kept them from settling there until 1540, when Francisco de Montejo (who founded nearby Merida) gained sufficient control to establish a settlement in the area. With its exports to Europe of local timber, silver and gold, the port prospered and became the primary trading port of the Yucatan.
The success did not arrive unaccompanied; pirates, eager to capitalize on the wealth being created there, often attacked this port. Following a particularly gruesome massacre, when rival pirate groups cooperated in a coordinated attack on the city, the Spanish took action to secure the facilities at Campeche, building huge bulwarks, each one over 10 feet thick. By 1668, 18 years after they began building them, the fortress-like structures were in place. Today the walls between them have either decayed or been demolished; however, most of the bulwarks are still standing.
Wealthy merchants and traders built stunningly beautiful houses and haciendas; today hundreds of these have been carefully restored to their former glory and repainted with the original soft pastel colors used in the past. In 1999 UNESCO declared Campeche a World Heritage Site.
Campeche’s appeal is enhanced by the long and broad waterfront it has stretching along the Gulf of Mexico. It’s a popular place in the evenings for people who want to watch the sunsets and also an extraordinary stage from which to experience thunderstorms roll in off the Gulf.
As travelers begin to venture further south from Merida and the Mayan ruins nearby, they are beginning to discover Campeche. This walled city with its narrow streets, pastel colored houses and old colonial feel is one Mexico’s best kept secrets.
A visit to Campeche will give young and old alike a glimpse of what life was like in the time of pirates. As you walk the streets of Campeche’s Centro you may feel as you have stepped back into time.
FUN FACTS ABOUT CAMPECHE
Campeche’s ornate coat of arms includes only a few pictorial elements. The upper left and bottom right quarters display silver towers on a red background, denoting the strength and bravery of the Campechanos while defending their land. The upper right and bottom left quarters show a sailing ship with raised anchor against a blue background, recalling the region’s maritime connections and the loyal nature of its people. At the top, a jeweled crown signifies Campeche’s grandeur and majesty.
- The city of Campeche is surrounded by walls built to protect it from pirate attacks. The massive walls took approximately 18 years to complete, from 1686 until 1704. The hexagonal enclosure has a perimeter of 2,560 meters (8,400 feet), and its height is over 8 meters (26 feet).
- The city of Campeche is one of Mexico’s best kept secrets, retaining a colonial atmosphere with its narrow streets and pastel houses – quite different from the modern tourist attractions in Cancún or Cabo San Lucas.
- The Reserva de la Biósfera Calakmul, Mexico’s largest nature preserve, gives sanctuary to most of the region’s 400 endangered species. Visitors to Campeche can see jaguars, spider monkeys, rainbow-beaked toucans and maritime turtles that come ashore to lay their eggs.
- Residents of the state are called campechanos, a term that has become synonymous with “good-natured” because the people have a reputation for welcoming visitors – even by Mexico’s already high social standards.
- Many Mayans live in Campeche, and 15 percent of them speak the Mayan language as their first language.
- Campeche’s local religious festival, the Feria San Román, is celebrated from September 14 to September 30. One of the festival’s oldest traditions is the procession of the Black Christ, an ebony statue brought to Campeche from Italy in the 16th century. Visitors to the fair enjoy religious and cultural events, games, handmade crafts and commercial exhibits.
- Campeche hosts Mexico’s oldest carnival, a pre-Lenten celebration that has been observed for over 450 years. The first day starts with a procession called “the walk to bury bad humor.” Bad humor, represented by a cloth puppet resembling a pirate, is placed inside a coffin, paraded through the streets and finally burned, symbolizing a change from bad humor to good. Each municipality elects an honorary king and queen to preside over the two-week-long festivities, which include music, dramatic performances and dancing.
- Campeche is one of the few cities in Mexico with numbered streets: Those running north-south have odd numbers, while the east-west streets have even numbers.
Source – History.com
