CULTURE AND ADVENTURE
Surrounded by major Arqueological zones and colonial villages (from Edzna and Calakmul to the lesser known sides of Balamkú), the coast of the Golf of Mexico (from the turtle camp in San Lorenzo to Champoton) and the caves of Xtacumbilxunaan, the hacienda is the perfect place for cultural trips.
The Hacienda Puerta Campeche is also the perfect place for activities with Mountain bikes and horses available, hikes can be organized. For relaxation, use the Spa or just relax for a while at the edge of the beautifully designed and uniquely located swimming pool.
Campeche
Campeche's Main Plaza
Though the date of the construction is uncertain, it is possible that it was built at the end of the 1540 or beginning of 1541, when the Villa of San Francisco was founded. The Plaza became the main area of the Spanish population settled on one mile, approximately, of the Indian population of Ah Kim Pech.
During the colonial time it was known as the Major Plaza, after a while is was named Plaza of the Constitution and finally in 1826 it was named as Plaza of the Independence. At the end of the XIX century the plaza had three streets of "rounds": the small one where children used to play or parents would walk to take care of the kids; the second one, or the middle one, youth and grown ups would walk by, and finally the main part was used by couples in love since it was away form the uproar.
The Plaza has had several changes through years, but it has recovered the image that it used to have at the beginning of the XIX century with a central kiosk and its ironwork fence.
Municipal Palace
In 1846, Dr. Vicente Mendez, a Presbyterian, founded a well known charity hospice which was located on Municipal Square and served to the public until 1874. From 1892 and over more than 65 years it was occupied as a barracks, making the necessary changes.
Campeche's Library
In 1989, the secretary of national defense allowed it to be used as the City Hall pf Campeche, after a process of restoration and rehabilitation. In 1962 ends the colonial cycle, and gives birth to the modernism; the Municipal and Government Palaces (buildings) were demolished, and now days the library is located, and costumes.
In the year 2000, when the reconstruction of Campeche’s Library began, there were accomplished two of the main objectives: cultural richness and technology focused on the community, and the recovery of the original structure of the Plaza, recovering the building that used to have during the colony by the politician powers, giving today a recreational and didactic space for the youth to use.
The Historical Center
In 1680, the army engineer Martin de la Torre sent his discourse about "the plan for fortifications which the city of Campeche, in the province of Yucatan, needs" to Emperor Charles II of Spain. De la Torre explained that without fortifications the city was open to invasion and greed at the hands of her enemies because she all but lacked a soul, which would be a wall and other fortifications.
How well the inhabitants of Campeche knew what it meant to be exposed! The list of terrors the city had experienced was all but too long. Two years before De la Torre’s discourse the pirate Lewis Scott had sacked the city taking numerous hostages, and eight years earlier Laurent Graff, the famous "Lorencillo", had done the same to the St. Roman district. Pirates, corsairs and freebooters were at large all over the Caribbean and the Gulf of Mexico. Cruising the ocean at will that reached right into the heart of Campeche, they always kept an eye on the still small city which had turned into one of the main ports of New Spain — hence, De la Torre’s call for fortifications.
Our tour through the historical center of Campeche touches nine bulwarks and fortifications and several other sites of interest.
San Carlos Fortress
Dedicated to the king at that time: Carlos II. Its surface is around 840m, and today it houses the City Museum.
Santa Rosa Fortress
Its name was inspired by the first sanctified American, Rosa from Lima. Its surface was 1157.45m, now day it is a painting museum
San Juan Fortress
Its name is enlaced to San Juan de Dios, founder of the Juaninos order. This is an example of work of arts of engineering with a of surface 764m.
San Francisco Fortress
Its name celebrates the order of San Francisco. With an original surface of 1342m2. In 1889 one of its part was demolished, dividing the fortress in two. Now day, one of its parts is used as the library “Gustavo Martinez Alomia”.
San Pedro Fortress
Dedicated to the founder of the church and first Pope. 780m of surface, built in 1702. In it was established the Court of the Inquisition, and today is an information centre.
Santiago Fortress
Named after the Saint Protector of Spain.
It was finished in 1704. In it was demolished at the beginning of this century, and what we see know is only a similar construction from it, but it is really different from the original, housing today the Didactic Botanic Garden.
Soledad Fortress
Named after our Madam of Loneliness. With a surface of 993m, now day serves as the Museum of Stele.
San Jose El Bajo Fortress
The eighth fortress was names after the husband of Virgin Mary. It was located in one of the parts where the High School Justo Sierra Mendez is placed, and it was one of the firs fortresses demolished while the beginning of the firs decades of this century.
The wall had four entrances, and the most important were the sea side door and the land side door. This last one was opened by Don Antonio Figueroa y Silva in 1727, which was well protected with eight canons and fosses
San Jose Fortress
It was built by the King Lieutenant, finished on august 9th, 1792. Its surface is around 1828.29m2.
San Miguel Fortress
Built over 1km from Lerma, occupies a surface of 3858.37m2. Here President Santa Ana installed the headquarters when attacked Campeche in 1842. Nowadays, one of its main attractions is the hydraulic system.
House of the king Lieutenant
Four of these houses were built in the city, with built-in columns in the façade, one in each side of the main entrance. In them representatives of the Governor of the Peninsula lived. They are located downtown of the Historical Centre on 59th, 14th and 51st streets.
House 6
Located on 57th street, between 8th and 10th streets, downtown. This construction comes from the XVII century and has been modified to remember the lifestyle of the people from Campeche in the XIX century. The entrance is free and it has a restaurant and a bookstore. It also is used as an Information Centre.
Weekly activities are organized for the public such as "The Campechanas’ Serenade" on Thursdays night, and "Campechana Lottery" on Saturdays evening.
Mansion Carvajal
On 10th street you can find one of the most beautiful samples of the XIX century civil architecture. It belonged to Mr. Rodrigo Carvajal Iturralde, who also owned the Hacienda Uayamon. Now days it has been restored. Its main characteristics are the Moorish arches and a great marble stairway.
Campeche's Main Plaza
Though the date of the construction is uncertain, it is possible that it was built at the end of the 1540 or beginning of 1541, when the Villa of San Francisco was founded. The Plaza became the main area of the Spanish population settled on one mile, approximately, of the Indian population of Ah Kim Pech.
During the colonial time it was known as the Major Plaza, after a while is was named Plaza of the Constitution and finally in 1826 it was named as Plaza of the Independence. At the end of the XIX century the plaza had three streets of "rounds": the small one where children used to play or parents would walk to take care of the kids; the second one, or the middle one, youth and grown ups would walk by, and finally the main part was used by couples in love since it was away form the uproar.
The Plaza has had several changes through years, but it has recovered the image that it used to have at the beginning of the XIX century with a central kiosk and its ironwork fence.
Municipal Palace
In 1846, Dr. Vicente Mendez, a Presbyterian, founded a well known charity hospice which was located on Municipal Square and served to the public until 1874. From 1892 and over more than 65 years it was occupied as a barracks, making the necessary changes.
Campeche's Library
In 1989, the secretary of national defense allowed it to be used as the City Hall pf Campeche, after a process of restoration and rehabilitation. In 1962 ends the colonial cycle, and gives birth to the modernism; the Municipal and Government Palaces (buildings) were demolished, and now days the library is located, and costumes.
In the year 2000, when the reconstruction of Campeche’s Library began, there were accomplished two of the main objectives: cultural richness and technology focused on the community, and the recovery of the original structure of the Plaza, recovering the building that used to have during the colony by the politician powers, giving today a recreational and didactic space for the youth to use.
Light And Sound Show Land Gate Tour Around The Pier
Built in 1732, the Land Gate is a lasting tourist attraction. As the only original entrance to the city remaining from the defense system, the Land Gate is one of the distinguished symbols of the Campeche capital. The gate has preserved its imposing splendor with its gunboats and casemates or houses, still intact, where the powder was stored. Likewise you still find the embrasures, that is the openings in the walls where soldiers discharged their rifles at the enemy. There is also still the defenses constituted by a slope in form of a triangle with a moat four meters wide and three meters deep. This moat completely surrounded the structure which had no water but spikes crossed with sharp points. Nowadays, a light and sound show transports you back into the glorious times of the Land Gate. The spectacle explains the city’s history, the rescue of the French canon, the pirate attacks and the history of the Campeche State Escutcheon. Folkloric prints of the escutcheon are handed out at the end of the spectacle.
Schedule: Tuesday, Friday and Saturday 8.30 p.m., English and Spanish.
Churches
The following tour includes eight sites of interest, among them churches in the center and the suburbs of Campeche.
Growing steadily from the end of the 17 th to the end of the 18 th century, the fortification wall, which had been intended from colonial times on, marked with stones a division of the city. The inner city is known as the Spanish Town, while the outer one is formed by barrios where the majority of the native population lived. Leading from each of the gates of the walled-in area, roads connected the center to the outer precincts, some of them founded in the 15 th century such as Saint Francis, Saint Roman, while others were registered in the 16 th century like Santa Ana Guadalupe and Santa Lucia.
By the end of the 18 th century, Campeche was one of best-defended places in the Americas after the city had amplified the fortifications with redoubts and batteries as proposed by the Infantry Brigadier and engineer Agustín Crame who arrived at the port around 1779.
From the beginning of the Spanish colonization, the Mayan inhabitants of Campeche were kept apart from the Spanish colonizers. They were settled half a league to the northeast of the main square at the entrance to the convent of San Francisco. San Francisco is considered the first place on Mexican territory where, in 1517, a mass was celebrated. The Franciscan church was built in the middle of the 16 th century. The neighborhood of San Francisco is one of the primordial ones outside the city walls, along with those of Guadalupe, Santa Ana, and San Roman.
Campeche's Cathedral
Located in the Main Square on 55th street between 8th and 10th streets downtown (Historical Center). In 1540 Francisco de Montejo´s son ordered the construction of a small church in honor of the Conceptions Virgin.
This construction was built with lime and pebble, with palm roof. On October 22, 1760, the construction of the Jesus Nazareno Chapel and the water side tower ended, the Española (the Spanish), where the first public clock was placed, with a written stone shield, which was destroyed after the Independence of Mexico. Between 1849 and 1850 the land side tower was built, known today as "La Campechena", the beautiful clock placed on it in 1916 still works. The Chapel is located in the garden. On the right of the church it’s located the bishopric building.
Guadalupe Church
Located in the neighborhood of Guadalupe on 47th Street, between 10B and Miguel Aleman Avenue, this old temple was the first to be dedicated to the virgin Guadalupe, after the one in the Tepeyac. In 1575 Pedro Martin of Bonilla began the construction of the church. It was finished and consecrated in 1660.
Church Of San Roman
The church of San Roman is located on Bravo Street between 10B and 12th streets in front of San Roman’s park.
This church was constructed in 1563 and named in honor of San Roman Martyr. At the beginning the mansion of San Roman was humble, as well as the one of the Black Christ Inside, one can see the wooden sculpture of the Black Christ, which was placed there by the people of Campeche in 1565, ordered by Juan de Cano y Cocoa Gaitan, who brought the image from Alvarado Veracruz, and was carved in Civitavecchia, Italy. With the time the humble chapel grew, the ending of the church with the proportions that now shows was around the XVII century.
Church Of San Francisco
Church of San Francisco is located on the corner of Miguel Aleman Avenue and Mariano Escobedo street, in the neighborhood under the same name, known before as "Campechuelo". Franciscans missioners founded on the Indian ground of Kin Pech, one mile from the Villa of San Francisco of Campeche, the first Franciscan convent in 1546, place where the fist mass in Mexican territory took place in 1517.
In this convent many historical facts took place, like giving hospitality to Martin Cortes’ wife -son of the conqueror of Mexico-, who gave birth to Jeronimo on October 31, 1562, baptized by the Bishop Don Francisco de Toral, and having as Godfather Don Francisco de Montejo.
Edzna (half day tour)
"Edzna House of Echos"
Edzna was founded between 600 and 300 B.C., later rising steadily from a small agricultural community to a regional capital which reached its apogee of political, economical and cultural significance between 600 and 900 A.D. Most of the ancient buildings are preserved.
"Edzna by Night"
Hacienda Puerta Campeche proudly presents a unique experience of visiting the archeological zone of Edzna, outside the regular openings hours, for a guided private tour by night with a specialized guide enjoying this arquitectural wonder under the moonlight. Please ask your Guest Relations Manager also for the possibility of "dining under stars at Edzna".
Sun, Sand and… Turtles (half day tour)
This camp can be found in San Lorenzo in the municipality of Seybaplaya. It is dedicated to the scientific study of sea turtles and some species of fish, specifically the causes for the disappearance of these maritime species. At the same time, the camp pursues the coordinated reproduction of the turtles in order to avoid their irretrievable extinction. For this purpose, ponds are used where the turtles reproduce before they are liberated into the ocean.
You are invited to make a little tour around the ponds and then, on board a boat, to visit a spawning place of the turtles on the shores of the ocean. Afterwards you can enjoy a tasty breakfast.
The turtle camp also offers children the opportunity to liberate one of the sea turtles grown in the ponds. In recognition of their beautiful activity they will receive a diploma.
Champoton & San Luis Carpizo (full day tour)
At kilometer 65 of Federal Highway 180, you find the picturesque town of Champoton, located in what the Spaniards used to call the Bay of the Bad Fight. A river by the same name of Champoton invites you on a boat tour to learn more about the regional fauna.
Mayan chronicles and prophecies mention a place called chakanputun, which very possibly is the actual town of Champoton. The town was the scene of the migration of the Itzaes and of Kukulcan. Champoton was also precisely the place where the Spaniards, under the command of Francisco Hernandez de Córdoba, suffered their first defeat in 1517 during the pioneering advance of Europeans into Mexican territory — hence the "Bay of the Bad Fight". Later on, with Spanish rule well established in the area, Francisco de Montejo, called el Mozo, baptized the town with the name of San Pedro Champoton.
Some places and festivals of interest:
* The Parish Church of Our Lady of the Graces.
* Bulwark of San Antonio.
* The Festival of the Virgin of the Immaculate Conception (Nov 28 – Dec 8).
* Commemoration of the battle against the Spaniards (March 21).
* "Mouth of the River", beach and spa.
* The Champoton River.
The Champoton River is one of the many important attractions in the area. The river originates in the valley of Edzna, reaching 52 kilometers in length, and is open to medium-sized ships. Fishermen offer a rental service of boats. We invite you to admire the majestic landscape alongside the Champoton River shores, characterized by mangroves that give shelter to birds and other water animals. Following the drift of the river, you will reach the lagoons of Paychulán, which are open to fishing, offering Mojarra, Tenhuayaca, Sea Bass and Carp.
Another option on this tour is a visit to the old Hacienda of San José Carpizo, which once belonged to the Carpizo family and was a prosperous henequen and cattle farm at the beginning of the 20th century. The principal buildings surround a central patio big enough to serve as a public square. Among the buildings are the machine house, the carpenter and blacksmith workshops, and the kitchen for the unmarried. The Main House and the Chapel deserve special attention on account of the major decorative treatment they received as the most significant buildings of the hacienda.
Following our route we next reach the picturesque fishing village of Sabancuy, which is located 83 kilometers to the northeast of the City of Carmen on Federal Highway 180.
One of Sabancuy’s main attractions is an estuary, which is rich in shrimps, oysters and salt-water fish. The estuary is located on the north side of the town.
In Sabancuy, you also see traditional houses with a French roof, which is common in the area. The church dates from the 18 th century. Across from the estuary, the beaches of the Gulf of Mexico unfold under tender waves crossing an ocean of a brilliant green color and a maximum depth of 1.7 meters along the coast.
Champoton is a little town located into a bay who was called by the Spaniards "The Bay of the Bad Fight". In Champoton you will be able to find a lot of seafood restaurants and an interesting river. Another option to visit is the Hacienda San Jose Carpizo. This Hacienda was at the beginning of the XX century one of the most important henequen (sisal or green gold) producers.
"The Chenes Route" (full day tour)
The scarcity of surface water is characteristic of the Yucatan Peninsula, in particular in its rough and rocky interior. For this reason, wells and springs have always assumed a special significance in this area, attracting settlements in their vicinity from prehispanic times on. The so-called Chenes owe their name to this very fact. Ch’en in Maya means ‘well’ and is found in many of the town names such as Hopelchen, Dzibalchen, and Bolonchen among others. Besides archeological zones and churches from the colonial period, the Chenes still show scars from a series of events that involved the entire Peninsula. In the second half of the 19th century, the Peninsula was the theater of the so-called “Casts War”. One of the most afflicted areas was exactly that of the Chenes which was close to the rebellious sanctuaries now located in the State of Quintana Roo.
Hopelchen (the Place of the Five Wells)
This town is located 86 kilometers from Campeche. One of its attractions is the colonial Church of San Antonio which was built on top of the platform of a prehispanic structure. There is also the archeological zone of Tohcok which comprises various structures and mounds dating back to the years between 600 and 750 A.D.
Santa Rosa Xtampac
Built on a natural elevation that was leveled and divided evenly in three parts in order to accommodate the city, Santa Rosa Xtampac is considered a remnant of an ancient local capital. Among its buildings the Palace stands out, a construction of three levels and 44 rooms located in the main square. Also noteworthy are the Temple of Cha’ac with its lintels of Chicozapote and its doorjambs with geometrical figures and ornamental masks; the Reddish House with its annexes, and the Quarters along with the buildings that form the quadrangles of the southeast and the southwest.
Bolonchen
Anciently known as Bolonchen Ticul, the place bears nowadays the name of Rejón in honor of Manuel Crescencio Rejón, who was born here in 1799. Manuel Rejón is the author of the "Juicio de Amparo", a law that prohibits arrest until the day of trial; his birthplace is now a cultural center. Another place worthwhile visiting are the grottos of X’tacumbilxunaam which were discovered in 1841 by the explorer John L. Stephens. The grottos are of an impressive beauty.
Hochob (the place of the corncobs)
An archeological zone rising on a hill and comprising three squares. Here you can observe various "oquedades", which are the mouths of the so-called chultunes, subterranean water supplies used by the ancient inhabitants.
Dzibalchen
The rubber boom made it possible for Dzibalchen – about 126 kilometers from the state capital – to grow in the middle of a hostile landscape in the interior of the peninsula. A paved highway connects the Chenes with the archeological marvels of southern Campeche to explore adjacent Mayan sites such as Tabasqueño-Xtabas Hochob and Dzibilnocac, close to Iturbide.
Iturbide
In the middle of the 19th century, Iturbide was a prosperous town which grew from 20 to 1,500 inhabitants in a short time. Iturbide is located 127 kilometers from the Campeche capital. Here you can still find a set of four redoubts, four hexagonal garitones, which rise on the four corners of the square. There are also military type of elements to be found in the City Hall and the Castle which is built on top of a pre-hispanic mound.
Dzibilnocac
On the outskirts of Iturbide you find this place with its various groups of structures that include mounds, basements, administrative buildings as well as platforms and residential areas for huts. The apogee of Dzibilnocac occurred in the Classic period of Mayan history, the name meaning, "the vaulted and painted house".
Hopelchen (the Place of the Five Wells)
This town is located 86 kilometers from Campeche. One of its attractions is the colonial Church of San Antonio which was built on top of the platform of a prehispanic structure. There is also the archeological zone of Tohcok which comprises various structures and mounds dating back to the years between 600 and 750 A.D.
Santa Rosa Xtampac
Built on a natural elevation that was leveled and divided evenly in three parts in order to accommodate the city, Santa Rosa Xtampac is considered a remnant of an ancient local capital. Among its buildings the Palace stands out, a construction of three levels and 44 rooms located in the main square. Also noteworthy are the Temple of Cha’ac with its lintels of Chicozapote and its doorjambs with geometrical figures and ornamental masks; the Reddish House with its annexes, and the Quarters along with the buildings that form the quadrangles of the southeast and the southwest.
Bolonchen
Anciently known as Bolonchen Ticul, the place bears nowadays the name of Rejón in honor of Manuel Crescencio Rejón, who was born here in 1799. Manuel Rejón is the author of the "Juicio de Amparo", a law that prohibits arrest until the day of trial; his birthplace is now a cultural center. Another place worthwhile visiting are the grottos of X’tacumbilxunaam which were discovered in 1841 by the explorer John L. Stephens. The grottos are of an impressive beauty.
Hochob (the place of the corncobs)
An archeological zone rising on a hill and comprising three squares. Here you can observe various "oquedades", which are the mouths of the so-called chultunes, subterranean water supplies used by the ancient inhabitants.
Dzibalchen
The rubber boom made it possible for Dzibalchen – about 126 kilometers from the state capital – to grow in the middle of a hostile landscape in the interior of the peninsula. A paved highway connects the Chenes with the archeological marvels of southern Campeche to explore adjacent Mayan sites such as Tabasqueño-Xtabas Hochob and Dzibilnocac, close to Iturbide.
Iturbide
In the middle of the 19th century, Iturbide was a prosperous town which grew from 20 to 1,500 inhabitants in a short time. Iturbide is located 127 kilometers from the Campeche capital. Here you can still find a set of four redoubts, four hexagonal garitones, which rise on the four corners of the square. There are also military type of elements to be found in the City Hall and the Castle which is built on top of a pre-hispanic mound
Dzibilnocac
On the outskirts of Iturbide you find this place with its various groups of structures that include mounds, basements, administrative buildings as well as platforms and residential areas for huts. The apogee of Dzibilnocac occurred in the Classic period of Mayan history, the name meaning, "the vaulted and painted house".
Calakmul & Balamkú (two days tour)
This tour explores the dense forest of Campeche, which has left many of the grandiose Mayan buildings almost intact. In the southeast of the state you find what in 1989 was named the Reserve of the Biosphere of Calakmul with an extension of 723, 185 hectares.
In this area you find different types of flora and fauna. More than 800 species of plants have been identified here, among them the Ramón or Ox. Noteworthy are also the Palo Mulato or Chaca, provider of resin; the Copal or Pom, used as incense in ancient rituals. There are also more than 250 species of birds, more than 100 species of mammals and an abundant number of amphibians, reptiles and insects. The reserve is the home of tapirs, jaguars, monkeys, spiders, howler monkeys, deer, royal buzzards, pumas and more.
Located in the reserve are also the archeological zones of Balam ku, Calakmul, Chicanna, Becan, and Xpujil all of which are surrounded by exuberant forest. In the area you also find touristic services, such as restaurants, hotels and gas stations.
Balam Ku
This archeological zone is located close to the town of Conhuas, 253 kilometers from Campeche. This zone, which owes its significance to the quality of its relieves, is reached by an open path through the forest. Florentino Gracia Cruz, who discovered the site in 1990, named the place Balam Ku (Temple of the Jaguar) in allusion to the representations of felines which appear on the beautifully decorated facade of the House of the Four Kings. This house is the principal building of the site, it is located on the northern side of the square where it is surrounded by the ruins of other constructions.
Calakmul (the place of the two adjacent pyramids)
The place was baptized by Lundell in 1932 and explored by Morley and Ruppert in 1932-1933. The main building is a pyramid 100 meters wide and 50 meters high. Here, the explorers discovered steles. The mayor structures of the site are:
The Gran Plaza – Layed out along a north-south axis according to archeologist Ramón Carrasco, the square was a place for ceremonies and rituals where the Mayas sought to recreate the mythical landscape of the creation of the world. Following this point of view, the surface of the square represents the primordial ocean while the pyramidal basements around the square represent mountains and the "Big Acropolis".
Chicanna (The House of the Snake Fangs)
A community, which is supposed to have been dependent on the close-by Becan, lived at this place. Surprisingly though, the buildings are of an elegant and elaborate architecture despite their relatively small dimensions, they combine the styles of the Chenes and those of the River Bec. The main building and the central facade are part of Structure II, the facade being a representation of Itzamna.
From this highly symbolical facade which represents the entrance to the underworld stems the name Chicanna. There are still residues of the red paint that at one point covered the facade. Chicanna is 280 kilometers from the city of Campeche.
Becan (cliff)
Alludes to the ditch that surrounds the central part of the archeological zone, which is located 277 kilometers from the city of Campeche. The first expedition to explore and survey the zone was led by Karl Ruppert and John Denison in 1934 and sponsored by the Carnegie Institute. Becan’s architecture shows a marked tendency towards the monumental, displaying the same architectural styles you find in Chicanna. The archeological zone is located four kilometers to the east of Chicanna and eight kilometers to the west of Xpujil.
Xpujil (Cat’s Tail)
Owing to the fact that the place is surrounded by a wild plant of the same name. The site comprises various buildings explored by Roman Piña Chan. The zone dates back to the Classic period (750 to 800 A.D.). Among the many original structures only some have been restored. The most representative one is structure 1, which is also known as the Building of the Three Towers. Structures 2 and 3, which form part of a ceremonial square along with structure 1, are of no architectural significance.
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