Historic Fortified Town of Campeche
The Historic Fortified Town of Campeche, located in San Francisco de Campeche, Mexico, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site recognized for its rich cultural history and unique military architecture. Founded in 1540 on the remnants of a Maya city, Campeche evolved into Spain's primary port for the Yucatan Peninsula, making it a prime target for pirates and privateers throughout the colonial era. The town suffered numerous attacks, notably by famous figures like Sir Henry Morgan, leading to the construction of extensive fortifications and bastions in the late 17th century. These military structures, now housing museums and gardens, exemplify the military engineering of the period, while the city’s layout reflects Renaissance planning principles.
Today, Campeche is characterized by its vibrant, colorfully painted houses and well-preserved historic neighborhoods, with many buildings dating back to the 18th century. The city's walls and fortifications have largely remained intact, and several of its bastions serve as cultural sites, including museums dedicated to local history and archaeology. The area is celebrated not only for its architectural significance but also for its local music, cuisine, and crafts, providing visitors with a glimpse into its enduring heritage. Preservation efforts since the 1970s have safeguarded its unique character, allowing Campeche to maintain its historical identity amid the pressures of modernization.
Historic Fortified Town of Campeche
1Site information
- Official name: Historic Fortified Town of Campeche
- Location: San Francisco de Campeche, State of Campeche, Mexico
- Type: Cultural
- Year of Inscription: 1999
Campeche was founded in 1540 at the site of a Maya city that had been razed by Spanish conquistadors, who laid out its new streets in a Renaissance grid. Natives and black Africans lived on the periphery. In colonial times, the town of Campeche served as Spain's main port for the Yucatan Peninsula, which made it a target for pirates and privateers due to its size and wealth. After it was repeatedly attacked and devastated during the seventeenth century, fortifications and bastions were built, making Campeche one of the few walled cities in the Americas.
Privateers were individuals and their ships who were commissioned by countries to act as a supplement to their navy. During trade and political conflicts from 1650 to 1720, the English crown authorized privateers to attack Spanish towns and ships in the Caribbean and the mainland coast, also called the Spanish Main. Among the most famous is Sir Henry Morgan, who participated in the sack of Campeche in 1663, when several privateers united to take the city. At the time, the city had no defenses besides a militia of 150 men. All but one of them was killed by the attackers, and the city was plundered and destroyed. The walls and nearby forts erected to protect the city represent a fine example of the military engineering of its day, and some of its bastions now hold gardens and museums.
History
A Maya city had existed at the site since about 900 CE. Its name, Can Pech, means Place of Serpents with Ticks, and it had fifteen thousand residents. These original citizens resisted the incursions of Spanish conquistadors for many years. Spaniards attempted to establish a garrison there in 1531 and failed, but they succeeded in 1540, using the harbor as a base of operations to conquer the Yucatan Peninsula and put down native rebellions, which persisted until 1547.
The full name of the city in colonial times became San Francisco de Campeche, and it became a center for Franciscan friars in their religious evangelization of the natives. Trade led to the growth of the city, and its most important and lucrative export was a reddish dye made from logwood, a local tree.
Campeche was sacked by English privateer William Parker in 1597. By 1616 authorities were taking concerted steps to combat further piracy, and the King of Spain established a coast guard in 1629, followed by a military garrison. But the city was sacked again by pirates in 1633. Fortifications were proposed in 1651 and the coast guard fleet was increased, but the city and the ships in its harbor were repeatedly targeted during the war between England and Spain from 1654 to 1660.
The sack of Campeche in 1663 became an inspiration for subsequent privateer attacks on other cities. Led by Christopher Myngs, who had earlier raided the city of Santiago de Cuba, the attackers included Edward Masvelt and Abraham Blauvelt, along with Morgan, and employed fourteen hundred men, fourteen English ships, four French ships, and three Dutch ships, in addition to some smaller vessels.
They overwhelmed the city's defenses in a battle that lasted two and a half hours. The plunder included 150,000 silver "pieces of eight" coins and fourteen ships that had been in the harbor. The Spanish government's outrage convinced King Charles II of England to outlaw similar raids, but that ban only lasted twenty years. Campeche was also attacked by the Dutch pirate Laurens de Graaf in 1685, who held it for three months and set it on fire when he left. Piracy continued in the Caribbean until the early 1800s, and privateering was formally abolished among European powers in 1856.
In 1680 the city began plans for a wall around the city. Construction began in 1686 and was finished in 1704. A wall eighty-four hundred feet long surrounded the city center in an irregular hexagon, with eight bastions at its corners. Two forts were later built on hills on each side of the city. A cathedral was erected in Campeche in 1760 with baroque and neoclassical details. The architecture of older, neighborhood churches reflects the need to offer protection to their earlier congregants during attacks.
Significance
The city's defenses and its historic neighborhoods remain largely unchanged into the twenty-first century, and the heritage area includes one thousand buildings, many dating back to the eighteenth century. One portion of the city wall was torn down in 1893 to offer a view of the sea. One of the four gates in the wall to outside neighborhoods remains intact, the "Land Gate" built in 1732, and it is now a tourist attraction.
Seven of the original eight bastions still stand. The Santiago bastion, reconstructed, holds a botanical garden. The San Francisco, which protected the Land Gate, houses an archeological and historical library. Nuestra Señora de la Soledad, which protected the Sea Gate, is the largest and contains a Museum of City History. The San Carlos also contains a museum. The Santa Rosa houses art exhibits. The San Pedro formerly held an Inquisition-era prison, and the San José has been destroyed. Both hilltop forts are museums. The San José houses boats and weapons from the period of its construction, and the San Miguel contains Maya archeology, including a collection of jade.
Known for its colorfully painted houses and its local music, dances, food, and crafts, Campeche remains largely unaltered because an economic decline forestalled modernization. Legislation in 1972 offered protection to its buildings, and additional laws, decrees, and municipal programs have provided further protection and management. Although other port cities in the Caribbean have more monumental architecture and fortifications, Campeche retains more of its original structure and layout. The town center illustrates the goals of Renaissance town planning, and its fortifications stand as seventeenth- and eighteenth-century military installations against pirate attacks.
Bibliography
Field, Randi. Mexico's Gulf States: Campeche, Quintana Roo, Tabasco, Veracruz, and Yucatan. Mexico: Leading the Southern Hemisphere,Mason Crest, 2014.
Gibson, Carrie. Empire's Crossroads: A History of the Caribbean from Columbus to the Present Day. Atlantic Monthly Press, 2014.
Hanna, Mark G. Pirate Nests and the Rise of the British Empire, 1570-1740. U of North Carolina P, 2015.
Historic Fortified Town of Campeche. World Heritage List. World Heritage Cultural Centre, UNESCO, 2016. whc.unesco.org/en/list/895.
Konstam, Angus, with Rocher Michael Kean. Pirates: Predators of the Seas. Skyhorse Publishing, 2007.
Talty, Stephan. Empire of the Blue Water: Henry Morgan and the Pirates Who Ruled the Caribbean Waves. Pocket Books, 2008.