CAMPECHE - THE COLONIAL WALLED CITY

Campeche is one of my favorite medium size cities in Mexico so far. The city was founded in 1540 by Spanish conquistadors arriving from Cuba. For comparison, the city of Havana was founded in 1505. Both are walled cities, although the Campeche waters are on a shallow shelf of the Gulf of Mexico that prevents large draft cargo or war ships such as pirate ships from getting close to the city. This did not prevent many pirate attacks on the city which led to the construction to the wall.

All seaborne cargo had to be trans-shipped from small vessels to the oceangoing ships and viceversa.

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.

A burial ground in Campeche, discovered in 2006, suggests African slaves had been brought there not long after Hernán Cortés completed the subjugation of Aztec and Mayan Mexico. The graveyard had been in use from about 1550 to the late 1600s [1].
In the 1840s Campeche had a population of about 21,000.

This is the Sea Gate of the wall of the old city of Campeche. Here Teri and Anne enjoy the view of the gate and the wall. All sea shipments passed through this gate.

Above is the Land Gate of the city wall on the South side of the city and directly opposite the Sea Gate on the North side. This was the most fortified of the gates.
As you drive around the old city, you can easily see where the walls are now missing. However the ramparts at various points around the city are still standing and are used as city buildings and museums. Notice the Cuban royal palm (Roystonea regia). It has been exported to the same latitudes in Mexico and also in great numbers to South Florida.

The state of preservation and quality of its architecture earned Campeche 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.

Many old Spanish buildings contain an interior courtyard whth flowers, fruit trees and other vegetation. The exterior totally disguises these living spaces.


The inner streets are curved to conform to the shape of the wall. Like in many German small cities, the Campeche municipality subsidizes the painting of buildings and regulates the color choices to avoid adjacent buildings having the same color. This results in strikingly colorful and beautiful old streets. I could not find out how Campeche enforces these appearance regulations.
Ted, Anne Teri and I had one of the best meals and Margaritas we have had so far in Mexico at Marganzo on Calle Ocho. La Pigua farther out of town and Marganzo were the restaurants recommended to us by the tourist office. I understand that La Pigua is more upscale and more expensive. It was interesting to sit in the front dining room at Marganzo right by the sidewalk. When we first arived at the restaurant we saw almost no customers, untill we noticed a crowded back dining room behind air conditioning doors.

At Marganzo they served us a taste of shredded Manta Ray for a small appetizer. I did not know what I was eating at the time and found it quite fishy. I will not look for manta ray again.