Campeche (Campeche Mexico)

Campeche City (officially San Francisco de Campeche is a Caribbean port city in Mexico's Campeche State, on the Yucatan Peninsula/Gulf of Mexico. The state's capital has population around 220,000 (metro around 260,000).

Port Campeche (locode MXCPE) serves all types of marine vessels, including passenger/cruise ships, cargo carriers, container ships).

San Francisco de Campeche was founded in the mid-16th-century (1540, by the Spanish conquistador Francisco de Montejo y Alvarez/1479-1553) and built over the Mayan town Ah Kim Pech/Can Pech where the Spaniards landed in 1517. In 1526, Charles V (Holy Roman Emperor and King of Spain between 1519-56) granted Francisco de Montejo the noble title Adelantado and named him Governor and Captain General of Yucatan.

Due to its position on the Gulf of Mexico, the town became the Yucatan's main port and largest shipbuilding and commercial center, leading to an economic boom and growth in population. Campeche received city rights (granted by Carlos III) in 1777.

The current scenery features the colonial city walls and fortifications built in the 17th-18th centuries to protect the Spaniards against attacks from pirates and buccaneers (mainly Dutch and British) as well as from marauders. Other popular tourist attractions include the Campeche Malecon (esplanade/waterfront promenade street), the Campeche Cathedral (Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception Cathedral/Franciscan church), San Miguel Fortress, historic downtown (colonial architecture), Mayan ruins (the pre-Columbian archeological sites Acanmul, Edzna, Jaina). Since 1999, the city is listed as a UNESCO site.

Campeche City's current economy is heavily based on services (mainly tourism and commerce) and commercial fishing/processing.