San Francisco de Campeche, also known simply as Campeche, is a city in
Campeche Municipality in the Mexican state of Campeche, on the shore of the
Bay of Campeche in the Gulf of Mexico.
The city was founded in 1540 by Spanish conquistadores as San Francisco de
Campeche atop the pre-existing Maya city of Can Pech. 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 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.
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The Sea Gate.
Located on 8th Street between the defenses of the Soledad and San
Carlos, the Sea Gate (Puerta de Mar) of Campeche was used as one
of the four entrances to the city.
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After being destroyed in the 19th century, it was rebuilt in the
middle of the 20th century with materials from buildings and monuments
located nearby.
- It is a great place to start a tour through the city.
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The 59th Street.
One of the most outstanding tourist locations in Campeche and one of the
things that cannot be missed is undoubtedly the famous 59th street (Calle 59) in the Historic Center of San Francisco de Campeche.
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The street stretches from the Sea Gate (Puerta de Mar) to the
Land Gate (Puerta de Tierra).
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This street is one of the most beautiful in the city, and also one of
the most famous and important.
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In it are some of the most representative buildings, such as the House
of Lieutenant King (Casa del Teniente Rey) or the San
Francisquito Church.
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The Statue of the Manguera (Estatua de la Manguera) is in the
foreground.
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Church of San Roque and San Francisquito.
The Church of San Roque and San Francisquito (Iglesia de San Roque y San Francisquito) was built in the middle of the 17th century, at the express request
of the residents of the town, since the convent of San Francisco was in
ruins.
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It was made from quarry stone and sahcab. The cover is made of a
belfry with two sections and three openings. The plant is rectangular
and has a flat nave made up of logs.
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The sobriety of the exterior, with its solid walls reinforced with
buttresses and topped with merlons, contrasts with its interior, as it
has five baroque altarpieces of great artistic value.
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The Land Gate.
Built in 1732, the Land Gate (Puerta de Tierra) was the main
entrance to the city, and still remains one of the symbols of the
capital.
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The ships of the corsairs Francis Drake, John Hawkins, Lauren Graff
“Lorencillo”, Kornelius Jols “Pie de Palo”, Diego “El Mulato”, Jacobo
Jackson, Henry Morgan, Bartolome “El Portugues”, Lewis Scott and Rock
Brasiliano, left their names written with blood on the memories of
this place.
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For 160 years the battles were incessant, until 1686 when the
construction of the walled and fortified city of Campeche began. This
construction was completed around 1704, although the attacks by
raiders then had almost disappeared.
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The wall that surrounded the city had a length of 2,560 m (8,399 ft)
and consisted of a irregularly shaped polygon with six fronts, four
doors and eight bastions. It was also guarded by two strong forts
built in the nearby hills. At present, there remains 500 m (1,640 ft)
of the wall, seven bastions, two doors and two forts.
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The Main Square and the Cathedral.
The Main Square is in the center and the Cathedral is behind on the
right side.
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The Main Square of Campeche during the colonial era was known as Main
Square (Plaza Mayor, later it was called Constitution Plaza (Plaza de la Constitución) and finally in 1826 it was called Independence Square (Plaza de la Independencia).
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The Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception Cathedral (Spanish:
Catedral de Nuestra Señora de la Purísima Concepción) or
Campeche Cathedral is the main Catholic building within the fortified
Campeche City, declared Cultural Patrimony of the Humanity. It is
located in front of the Independence Square of the city.
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It is a Baroque style building with features of the neoclassic, famous
for sheltering in its interior figurines of sacred art, highlighting a
monument called "The Holy Burial" that represents a coffin with the
figure of Christ and that during Good Friday is carried by the main
streets of the city. It was built between 1540 and 1760.
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Mural painting.
This wall painting in the streets of Campeche represents the jaguar as
an important figure in Mayan tradition.
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The Maya people saw the jaguar's attributes as a strong and powerful
creature, as well as its easily recognizable coat, and incorporated it
into their mythology.
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A Margarita at Marganzo.
Blandine Gautier surprised the whole group by offering a Margarita at
Marganzo Restaurant.
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This refreshing Tamarind Margarita is bursting with tropical flavors
and are a fun way to shake up your margarita routine. It is made with
fresh tamarindo puree, limes, syrup and tequila. This is a perfect
blend of tangy, sweet, sour, and a little spice if you’d like.
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Recipe: Heat sugar and water in a saucepan until sugar dissolves for
the simple syrup; let cool. Combine tequila, Triple Sec, lemon juice,
lime juice, orange juice, and tamarind concentrate in a pitcher. Stir
in simple syrup; chill the margarita until ready to serve. To serve,
combine salt and chile powder on a plate. Rub the rims of glasses with
a lime wedge; dip into salt mixture. Fill the glasses with ice and top
with margarita.
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See more at
Margarita - Wikipedia.
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See also
Source
Location
