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Article: The riches of Campeche: coastal colonial city still attracts, just as it did for Maya royalty and European pirates.
- Article from:
- Business Mexico
- Article date:
- March 1, 2003
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2003 American Chamber of Commerce of Mexico A.C. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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For over three centuries, Campeche's most infamous visitors were John Hawkins, Sir Francis Drake, Diego the Mulatto, Lorencillo and Sir Henry Morgan. Even whispering the names of the pirates was enough to instill fear in the populace.
Morgan pounced on the port and ravished it in 1661 but the assault in 1685 by Lorencillo was by far the worse, history shows. He relentlessly sacked Campeche for 30 days after looting the outlying haciendas and churches. Afterwards, the city was fortified more strongly and it remained walled until 1890 when the threat from the sea had diminished.
Nevertheless, this left an indelible mark on Campeche. The Spaniards built ...