Seaside fortress dating back to the colonial period.
Campeche’s charm is neatly hidden behind traffic-blocked streets, but once inside the city walls it reveals itself as a good place to break your journey out to the Yucatán. The town of Campeche has been declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO and the clean streets of brightly painted houses give the town a relaxed Caribbean feel. The waterfront Malecón is a beautiful promenade where people stroll, cycle and walk in the evenings.
Like many Yucatán peninsular towns, Campeche’s streets in the Old Town are numbered rather than named. Even numbers run north-south beginning at Calle 8 (no one knows why) near the Malecón, east to Calle 18 inside the walls; odd numbers run east (inland) from Calle 51 in the north to Calle 65 in the south. Most of the points of interest are within this compact area. A full circuit of the walls is a long walk; buses marked ‘Circuito Baluartes’ provide a regular service around the perimeter.
Of the original walls, seven of the baluartes and an ancient fort (now dwarfed by two big hotels on the seafront) remain. Some of these contain museums.
The heart of the city is the Zócalo, where the austere Franciscan cathedral (1540-1705) has an elaborately carved facade; inside is the Santo Entierro (Holy Burial), a sculpture of Christ on a mahogany sarcophagus with a silver trim. There is plenty of shade under the trees in the Zócalo, and a small bandstand with a snack bar.
Right in front of the Zócalo is the Baluarte de Nuestra Señora de la Soledad, the central bulwark of the city walls, from where you can do a walking tour of the Circuito Baluartes, the remains of the city walls (US$0.70 for the tour, US$2 including entry to the Baluarte de San Carlos museum). Heading east, you’ll come to the Puerta del Mar, formerly the entrance for those permitted to enter the city from the sea, which used to come up to this point. Next along the circuito is a pair of modern buildings, the Palacio de Gobierno and the Congreso. The latter looks like a flying saucer, and makes for a bizarre sight when viewed with the 17th-century Baluarte de San Carlos in the background. Heading west on the continuation of the circuito, you will come to Templo de San José, on Calle 10, an impressive baroque church with a beautifully tiled facade. It has been deconsecrated, and is now an educational centre. Back on the circuito, you will next reach the Baluarte de Santa Rosa, now the home of the tourist information office. Next is Baluarte de San Juan, from which a large chunk of the old city wall still extends, protecting you from the noisy traffic on the busy road beyond it. The wall connects with Puerta de la Tierra. The continuation of circuito will take you past the Baluarte de San Francisco, and then past the market, just outside the city walls. Baluarte de San Pedro flanks the northeast corner of the city centre, and now houses another museum. The circuito runs down to the northwest tip of the old city, where the Baluarte de Santiago houses the Botanical Gardens.
Further from the city walls is the Batería de San Luis, 4 km south from the centre along the coast road. This was once a lookout post to catch pirates as they approached the city from a distance. The Fuerte de San Miguel, 600 m inland, is now a museum. A 20-minute walk along Avenida Miguel Alemán from Baluarte de Santiago is the San Francisco church, 16th century. Nearby are the Portales de San Francisco, a beautifully restored old entrance to the city, with several good restaurants in its shadow.
You can also explore the Museo de la Arquitectura Maya, the Jardín Botánico Xmuch’Haltun and the Fuerte de San Miguel....
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