Mexico's only fully walled colonial city — where the 16th-century hexagonal fortification wall and its eight baluartes (bastions) that once kept Dutch and English pirates out of Campeche's silver-laden harbour still completely encircle the historic centre, creating a UNESCO World Heritage pedestrian district of rainbow-painted pastel buildings and black iron lanterns that feels entirely unlike any other Mexican city, the Puerta del Mar (Sea Gate) once opened directly onto the Gulf, and the Mayan archaeological zone of Edzná (55 km inland) is the most under-visited major Mayan site in the Yucatán Peninsula
Campeche (320,000 city) is the capital of Campeche state on Mexico's Gulf of Mexico coast, midway between Mérida and Tabasco state — notable for its UNESCO World Heritage historic centre (1999), the only fully walled colonial city in mainland Mexico. The fortification walls (built 1686–1704 by the viceroy after decades of pirate attacks including the catastrophic sack of 1663 that killed or enslaved most of the city's population) create a 20-block pedestrian zone of 17th–19th century coloured townhouses in an essentially intact colonial streetscape. The city is quiet, un-touristy, and frequen…
The Campeche area was a major Mayan city (Ah Kin Pech, 'Lord of the Serpent Tick', the origin of the Spanish name 'Campeche') and significant pre-Columbian trading port. The Spanish founded San Francisco de Campeche in 1540 as the first permanent Spanish settlement in the Yucatán Peninsula. The city's position as the main Gulf port for Yucatán silver and local products made it a target for English and Dutch pirates from the 1550s through the 1680s — the most devastating attack was the night of February 9, 1663, when Dutch and French pirates under Laurent de Graaf (Lorencillo) attacked with 70…