San Francisco de Campeche (; , ), 19th c., 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. Both the seat of the municipality and the state's capital, the city had a population of 220,389 in the 2010 census, while the municipality had a population of 259,005.
The city was founded in 1540 by Spanish conquistadores as San Francisco de Campeche atop the pre-existing Maya city of Can Pech. Little trace remains of the Pre-Columbian city.
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 World Heritage Site in 1999. Campeche is (along with Quebec City) one of the only cities in North America with most of its historic old city walls intact. Originally, the Spaniards lived inside the walled city, while the indigeneous Maya people 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.
History
The modern city of San Francisco de Campeche was founded in 1540 by Francisco de Montejo upon the site of Can Pech, the former capital city of a Maya chiefdom. The city of Campeche was terrorized by pirates and marauders (such as the 1633 Sack of Campeche and the 1663 Sack of Campeche) until the city constructed major fortifications. The fortifications were started in 1686 and completed in 1704.
First expedition
The Hernández de Córdoba expedition of 1517 was the first Spanish expedition to reach Campeche, and its members were among the first Europeans to set foot on the Yucatán Peninsula. The expedition left the island of Cuba on February 8 and reached Isla Mujeres and Cabo Catoche in early March. They continued westward around the peninsula. Bernal Díaz del Castillo was the only member of that expedition to write an account of these events. In his account, he wrote that on Sunday March 22, they sighted and debarked at a village on the coast. This village was Can Pech, the capital of the Maya city-state of the same name. This happened to be the day of veneration of Saint Lazarus of Bardiaboch, which is why Hernández de Córdoba baptized the place with that name.
In need of water, the Spaniards landed and supplied themselves from a well. As the Mayans approached, the Spaniards indicated by means of signs that they came in peace; the Maya chief asked them if they came from where the sun rises, mentioning the word "castilán". The Spaniards, surprised to hear this word, responded affirmatively, and the chief invited them to his city, where copal was lit. By means of signs, the Maya chief indicated to the expeditionaries that they should leave the city before the fire went out. Meanwhile, Mayan warriors were arriving at the place. Based on their recent experience at Cabo Catoche, the Spanish decided to leave. They would later encounter rough seas which caused them to lose the water they had just collected. This in turn forced them to land at Chakán Putum, where a fierce battle between Mayans and Spaniards took place.
Conquest
After the Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire, Francisco de Montejo requested permission from Charles V to conquer the Yucatán Peninsula. In 1526, the Spanish crown granted Montejo the title of "Adelantado, governor, sheriff and captain general of Yucatan". His conquest of Chakán Putum and Can Pech were part of the Spanish conquest of Yucatán, which was carried out in three stages.
In the first stage (1527 to 1529), Montejo ventured along the eastern coast of the peninsula with the help of the captain Alonso Dávila, whom he had known since Cortes' expedition, but they were repelled by the Maya.
In the second stage (1530-1535), Montejo ventured into the west, where he founded “Salamanca de Campeche” in 1531. Montejo sent Alonso Dávila was sent to cross the peninsula south, where he founded “Villa Real” in Bacalar, but this position soon had to be abandoned. Montejo’s son was defeated in battle at Chichén Itzá towards the end of 1534, after which the Spaniards abandoned the peninsula for five years.