Campeche (city)

San Francisco de Campeche
Campeche
Clockwise from top: Historic Center of San Francisco de Campeche; Monumento la novia del mar; Malecón of the city of Campeche; Monument to Hispanidad; Fort of San Miguel; Parish of Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception Holy Cathedral Church; Colonial architecture; The Mayan Angel; View of the cathedral of campeche from the fortress; Historic Center of San Francisco de Campeche
Clockwise from top: Historic Center of San Francisco de Campeche; Monumento la novia del mar; Malecón of the city of Campeche; Monument to Hispanidad; Fort of San Miguel; Parish of Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception Holy Cathedral Church; Colonial architecture; The Mayan Angel; View of the cathedral of campeche from the fortress; Historic Center of San Francisco de Campeche
Coat of arms of San Francisco de Campeche
San Francisco de Campeche is located in Campeche
San Francisco de Campeche
San Francisco de Campeche
San Francisco de Campeche is located in Mexico
San Francisco de Campeche
San Francisco de Campeche
Coordinates: 19°51′0″N 90°31′50″W / 19.85000°N 90.53056°W / 19.85000; -90.53056
CountryMexico
StateCampeche
MunicipalityCampeche
City FoundedOctober 4, 1540 (484 years ago)
Government
 • MayorBiby Karen Rabelo de la Torre (2021-2024)
Area
 • Total52.48 km2 (20.26 sq mi)
Elevation
10 m (33 ft)
Population
 (2020 census)[1]
 • Total249,623
 • Density4,800/km2 (12,000/sq mi)
DemonymCampechano
Time zoneUTC−6 (Central (US Central))
 • Summer (DST)UTC−5 (Central)
Area code981
Major AirportIng. Alberto Acuña Ongay International Airport
IATA CodeCPE
ICAO CodeMMCP
WebsiteOfficial Campeche Website
Official nameHistoric Fortified Town of Campeche
TypeCultural
Criteriaii, iv
Designated1999 (23rd session)
Reference no.895
RegionLatin America and the Caribbean

San Francisco de Campeche[2] (pronounced [saɱ fɾanˈsisko ðe kamˈpetʃe]; Yucatec Maya: Ahk'ìin Pech, pronounced [aχkʼiːn˥˧ pʰetʃ]), 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,[3] while the municipality had a population of 259,005.[3]

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.[4][5] 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 indigenous 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.

  1. ^ Citypopulation.de Population of Campeche
  2. ^ "Constitucion Politica del Estado de Campeche (chapter 10, article 24)" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on July 25, 2011. Retrieved August 24, 2010.
  3. ^ a b "Campeche". Catálogo de Localidades. Secretaría de Desarrollo Social (SEDESOL). Archived from the original on 11 September 2016. Retrieved 23 April 2014.
  4. ^ Centre, UNESCO World Heritage. "Historic Fortified Town of Campeche". whc.unesco.org.
  5. ^ World Heritage Site - Campeche Archived 2010-08-21 at the Wayback Machine