Is the Paint Dry? 7-7-10

Campeche, Campeche

After roaming around places encrusted in time and thick moss for more than a thousand years; weighted down by their burdens of war, famine, drought, one wonders what there is to be found in a ‘new’ city founded only 480 years ago. It probably was needful to come out of the jungle and get my sense of time and age readjusted. Campeche proved a very fine place to do this.

Founded in 1540 by Spanish conquistadors on top of the abandoned Mayan city of Kimpech, this distinctive Colonial city retains its original city walls and fortifications. Despite 160 years of pirate attacks and other challenges, Campeche has retained more than one thousand buildings of historical significance, many in fine repair. Unafraid of color, the city boasts a fine palette of facades in a wide range of brilliant colors, making for grand photographic images. Original churches and the Cathedral have survived and many remain in use. One downtown church has been made over into a music venue. One gets a positive upbeat sensibility in Campeche. As in many Latin cities, people seem to be skilled at embracing life.

After visiting the fortifications, and walking the colorful streets, we sought refuge in a large air conditioned restaurant where we enjoyed a mid-day feast after building up an appetite on the pyramids of Edzna. We also enjoyed the semi-finals of the world Cup in a pleasantly boisterous atmosphere. Refueled and refreshed, we wandered the plaza and explored the Cathedral Church.

Some notes on the history of the church are useful:

“On December 8, 1526, Emperor Carlos V granted Don Francisco de Montejo el Adelantado authorization to conquer and to populate the county of Yucatan. To commemorate this fact, in 1540 Francisco de Montejo junior, ordered a small church built in the City of Campeche in honor of the Purísima Concepción, which is celebrated Dec 8. This church was made with lime and pebble, with a palm roof. Toward 1650 the first works of amplification of the parish began.

On August 4, 1758, by initiative of the priest's Manuel José Nájera, the amplification works and remodeling of the church were restarted, and concluded on October 22, 1760 with the construction of Jesús Nazareno's chapel and of the tower on the side of the sea, "La Española" (The Spaniard), where the first public clock was placed, as well as a Spanish coat of arms worked in stone which occupied the center; the coat of arms was destroyed after the independence of Mexico.

In 1833 the Yucatan bishop Don José María Guerra consecrated the parish and in 1895 the Pope León VIII erected the bishopric in Campeche, raising the status of the parish of Nuestra Señora de la Concepción, to Cathedral.

Between 1849 and 1850 the tower of the land side was built, well-known as "La Campechana". The clock of 4 luminous masks, still working in this tower, was installed in 1916.”

An easy drive found us back in our opulent accommodations at Sihoplaya. Dinner of octopus and shark followed lunch of crab and breakfast of shrimp. Life is generous.