Campeche
Campeche: state Capital, has 220.000 inhabitants. Built in the border of the Gulf of Mexico and was founded on 1540 on the old Mayan city of Ah Kin Pech (“place where the sun sets”) by the Spanish conqueror Francisco de Montejo, who named it Villa of San Francisco de Campeche. This state became, during the second half of XVI century, the most important port of the Yucatan Peninsula thanks to the export of precious wood to Europe, mainly the Palo de Tinte, also known as Campeche wood. With the commercial success, the European pirates began the incursions and attacks. They devastated, sacked and set the city on fire at the end of the XVII century. This was the reason why the construction of a defensive system made up of walls that connected bastions and access doors to the city was undertaken. Following a defensive pattern, cannons were placed in the border of the sea. Nowadays the vestiges of that turbulent time may be observed, the city of Campeche is one of the few fortified cities of the American Continent, which makes it a true architectural treasure.
