In the city of Campeche, formerly Kin Pech, each neighborhood or barrio is testimony to a historical process that tells a particular process of conquest, colonization and relation to the original Mayan people.
As a result of these specific dynamics, the identity of each neighborhood was forged: to each barrio its church, its square, its saint's festival, its park, its food, its traditions and its rich anecdotes.
Barrio de San Francisco
This is the central barrio of Campeche, the one with the largest Mayan population when the Spanish arrived. Here we find the first church of Campeche, part of its oldest monuments: The Convent of San Francisco, built in 1546. Its importance lies in having been the operational center of evangelization for the entire Yucatan Peninsula. Furthermore, it was here where Martín, son of Hernan Cortes, stayed with his wife, and where their first child was born.
Currently, local people come to the plaza to buy tamales and horchatas, and to visit the important site of the Green Cross on the day of the Holy Cross.
Barrio de San Román
Established on the seashore, this neighborhood is home to the famous Black Christ statue. The Black Christ is the patron saint of fishermen and sailors. It arrived in Campeche in 1565, all the way from Italy. The story tells of an epic journey with a miraculous arrival, in which the statue had inexplicably avoided the onslaught of an aggressive storm, in which much larger ships were wrecked.
Currently, the Black Christ is the most venerated religious figure in the Yucatan Peninsula. The Campechanos celebrate his arrival every year with a traditional parade towards the ocean, which continues in boats, in memory of his eventful arrival.
Barrio de Santa Lucía
When the conquerors arrived in this territory, they found a place of organized and peaceful Mayan population, which continued with its own government for a time, but from which the inhabitants fled as the Spanish mandate was established.
It is believed that the first church was built with a palm roof, which over time gave way to an important hermitage. The hermitage served as a hospital at the beginning of the 19th century, to care for the sick during the scourge of black pox. In the 70s it became the current Church of Santa Lucía.
Currently, its park comes alive on Sunday afternoons, when people come to walk and eat traditional antojitos.
Barrio de Santa Ana
By the time the conquerors arrived, this fertile area of wells and fruit trees was populated by farmers and families who worked as servants for the Spanish. Over time, the area was filled with farms, country houses and orchards.
The church of Santa Ana, the heart of the neighborhood, began as a Mayan sascab (white earth) and quarry site, which later became the current Franciscan enclosure with an austere and robust style. Around 1830, the Park Alameda de Santa Ana was built, following the impulse of modern times when public recreational spaces gained importance.
Barrio de Guadalupe
Built in a coastal area, this neighborhood has been known as the “stately neighborhood” for its mansions and magnificent buildings from the colonial period. Established around the Hermitage of Guadalupe, it had no Mayan inhabitants. The barrio was populated with immigrants from the Canary Islands and other regions of Spain, who arrived in conditions of poverty and forged their professions around fishing and marine life.
Its church, originally dedicated to the Virgin Guadalupe of Extremadura, houses an important image of the Virgin Guadalupe of the Basilica, which is the second to have existed in the country. Currently, this image is venerated every December the 12th, by the faithful from all over the Yucatan Peninsula.
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