Campeche (city)

San Francisco de Campeche
Coordinates: 19 ° 51 ′ N , 90 ° 32 ′ W San Francisco de Campeche on the map of Campeche	San Francisco de Campeche
	San Francisco de Campeche
	Location of San Francisco de Campeche in Mexico
Basic data
Country	Mexico
State	Campeche
Municipio	Campeche
City foundation	1531
Residents	220,389 (2010)
	City insignia
Detailed data
height	10 m
Website	Campeche
	Fuerte de San Miguel with Museo Arqueológico
	Campeche Cathedral
	Downtown Campeche with San Francisco Church

Colonial houses

The city of Campeche , officially San Francisco de Campeche , is the capital of the state of the same name in southeastern Mexico . Since 1999, the city is a World Heritage Site by UNESCO . The in 1895 by Pope Leo XIII. established diocese of Campeche ( Latin : Dioecesis Campecorensis , Spanish : Diócesis de Campeche ) is a Roman Catholic diocese based in Campeche.

Location and climate

The port city of San Francisco de Campeche is located on the Gulf of Mexico on the west coast of the Mexican Yucatán peninsula , approx. 185 km southwest of Mérida . Campeche has an international airport, the Aeropuerto Internacional Ing. Alberto Acuña Ongay . The climate is mostly tropical and humid; The rain, which is abundant by Mexican standards (approx. 1000 mm / year), falls mainly in the summer months.

population

year	1990	1995	2000	2005	2010
Residents	150,518	178.160	190.813	211,671	220.389

Only a small part of the population is of Spanish descent; most of them are immigrants from the villages of the hinterland. Colloquial language is mostly Spanish or a local Chontal Maya dialect .

economy

The port of Campeche was once an important stopover for the Spanish ships loaded with silver in Veracruz on their way home; it also offered protection during storms or sightings of enemy ships (especially the British and pirates ). With the decline in silver exports in the years before Mexico's independence (1821), it lost its importance. Today it is mainly used as an oil port ; the construction of a refinery is being planned.

history

On March 20, 1517, an expedition led by Francisco Hernández de Córdoba was the first to reach the coast off Campeche. A stone stele in front of the Iglesia San Francisco and an approximately eight-meter-high monument on what is now Campeche's coastal promenade commemorate the first Christian worship service on the American mainland, which was celebrated there on March 22, 1517 by Spanish soldiers and clergy. But it was not until October 4, 1540 that the Spanish settlement was founded on the site of the small Mayan settlement Kaan Peech ("snake-tick"), the name of which is clearly derived from the old name. Campeche soon became the most important port in Yucatán. The city's economy was based on the one hand on cattle breeding and agriculture, on the other hand wood and salt (in the 19th century also sisal) were exported to mainland Spain. The growing wealth led to constant raids by British and Dutch pirates. After a particularly bad raid in 1663, in which the city was practically razed to the ground, the construction of the fortifications began in 1688 with the help of the Spanish crown , which is still the city's greatest attraction today. After 18 years of construction, the facility encompassed an area of around 40 blocks. It was a hexagonal structure with a fortress on every corner; part of the system protruded into the Gulf of Mexico . Thanks to them, Campeche was the only city that was not taken by the Mayan rebels during the war of the castes . The city wall was later largely removed and used to pave the old town .; the individual fortresses, on the other hand, have been completely preserved and today mostly house museums.

Attractions

The several kilometers long boulevard along the coast is - despite different street names - colloquially just called El Malecón ("embankment street"); it is a popular meeting place for the Campechanos for strolling, cycling, running or inline skating.
The fortifications built in 1668–1686 are still the city's greatest attractions today.
The cathedral, begun in 1650, is the central structure of the city; the single-nave building has a transept and was only finally completed 200 years later. The originally preserved marble floor is particularly remarkable. Attached to the cathedral is the Museo de Arte Sacra .
The administration building of the state of Campeche dates from the 1960s; his style of “Latin American Modernism” contrasts with the colonial architecture of the city.
The Museo Arqueológico is located in Fuerte de San Miguel ; it presents numerous objects from the excavations in the state of Campeche, u. a. from Calakmul , Edzná and Jaina . These include unique jade grave masks from Calakmul.
The Museo de la Ciudad de Campeche is located in the Baluarte de San Carlos ; it is mainly dedicated to the colonial history of the city.
For other museums see
The Jardín Botánico Xmuch Haltún is located in the Baluarte de Santiago and contains an overview of the fauna of the Yucatán.