Campeche, Campeche

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Campeche is the name of both a state in Mexico and its capital city. This article is about the city. For the state, see Campeche; for the Puerto Rican artist, see José Campeche.

**Historic Fortified Town of Campeche**¹
**UNESCO World Heritage Site**

State Party	Mexico
Type	Cultural
Criteria	ii, iv
Identification	#895
Region²	Latin America and the Caribbean
Inscription History
Formal Inscription:	1999 23rd WH Committee Session
WH link:	http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/895
1 Name as officially inscribed on the WH List 2 As classified officially by UNESCO

Campeche is a city and municipality of Mexico located at 19°51′0″ N 90°31′48″ W (19.85, -90.53), on the shore of the Gulf of Mexico. The city's population at the 2005 census was 211,671 people. The municipality for which it serves as municipal seat had a population of 238,850.

The city was founded in 1540 by Spanish conquistadores as San Francisco de Campeche atop the preexisting Maya city of Canpech or Kimpech. The Pre-Columbian city was described as having 3,000 houses and various monuments, of which little trace remains.

The city retains many of the old colonial Spanish city walls and fortifications which protected the city (not always successfully) from pirates and buccaneers. The state of preservation and quality of its architecture earned it the status of a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1999. Originally, the Spaniards lived inside the walled city, while the natives lived in the surrounding barrios of San Francisco, Guadalupe and San Román. These barrios still retain their original churches; the one in Guadalupe is almost 500 years old.

1 City fortifications
2 History
3 References
4 External links

[edit] City fortifications

Due to the constant attacks of both English and Dutch buccaneers and pirates such as Francis Drake, John Hawkins, Laurens de Graff, Kornelius Jols, Jacobo Jackson, Henry Morgan, Lewis Scott, Roche Braziliano and Michel de Grammont for almost 160 years, in 1686 the government started to fortify the city. The French engineer Louis Bouchard de Becour was commissioned to unify all the protections that surrounded the city with a wall.

At its completion, the wall surrounding the city of Campeche was composed of 2,560 meters in length forming an irregular hexagon around the main part of the city, with eight defensive bastions on the corners, This baluartes now serve different functions:

Santiago: Used the Botanical Garden 'Xmuch´haltún'. Reconstructed.
San Pedro: former prison.
San Francisco: Protects the Land Gate. Houses the library of the INAH.
San Juan: Protects the Land Gate.
Santa Rosa:
San Carlos: Holds the City Museum. This fort was the first one built. Protects the Sea Gate.
Nuestra Señora de la Soledad: Also protects the Sea Gate. It is the largest one and holds the Museum of City History.

It also contained four doors to allow access to the main quarters. The main doors are the Puerta de la tierra ("Land Gate"), built in 1732, and the Puerta del mar ("Sea Gate"). The Land Gate is kept as a tourist attraction, having a light and sound show three nights each week and keeping original supplies and items from the XVII century. The other doors where Guadalupe and San Román, connecting to the outside neighborhoods.

Additionally, two main forts protected the city from two nearby hills on each side, the forts of San José el Alto (built in 1762) and San Miguel. These forts gave long-range artillery coverage and served also as look-outs. They were built before the walls of the city. The fort of San Miguel is used as a museum and houses a collection of pre-hispanic items. The fort of San José houses a collection of boats and weapons of the period.

[edit] History

Campeche was the principal port of Yucatán until the mid-19th century, when it was overtaken by Sisal, and then Progreso. It was historically the second largest and most important city in the Peninsula (after Mérida) until the end of the 20th century and the increased development in Quintana Roo. In the 1840s the city had a population of about 21,000.