Sights in Campeche State
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Zoh-Laguna Museum
Zoh-Laguna's interesting history is illustrated photographically in the small Zoh-Laguna Museum, opposite Hotel Bosque Modelo.
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Gran Plaza
The Gran Plaza, with loads of stelae in front of its buildings (Estructura V has the best ones), makes a good first stop on a tour of the ruins, and climbing the enormous Estructura II, at the south side of the plaza, is a must. Each of this pyramid's sides is 140m long, giving it a footprint of just under 2 hectares - one of the largest known Maya structures.
After a good climb you'll reach a temple occupying what appears to be the top of the building, but you have to go around it to the left to reach the real apex. From here, more than 50m above the forest floor, you'll enjoy magnificent views over the jungle canopy to the photographable Estructura I to the southeast an…
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Becán
Located 8km west of Xpujil and 500m north of the highway, this must-visit site contains three separate architectural complexes. You should set aside at least two hours to explore it properly. The Maya word for ‘canyon’ or ‘moat’ is becán, and indeed a 2km moat snakes its way around this major site, with seven causeways providing access to the 12-hectare complex. The elaborate defense suggests the militaristic nature of the city which, from around AD 600 to 1000, was a regional capital encompassing Xpujil and Chicanná. A strategic crossroads between the Petenes civilization to the south and Chenes to the north, Becán displays architectural elements of both, with t…
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El Tigre
Off Hwy 186, heading southwest from Escárcega is one of Campeche’s most recently uncovered Maya sites, El Tigre. Archaeologists are almost certain it is none other than Itzamkanac, the legendary capital of the Itzáes, though much remains to be explored. Unlike other Campeche sites, El Tigre occupies a wetlands environment crisscrossed by rivers, with two excavated pyramids amid swaying palms and diverse birdlife. From Candelaria take the road east to Monclova; a short distance beyond the village of Estado de México is the turnoff to the site. Buses will only take you to Candelaria.
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Edificio de los Cinco Pisos
Across the plaza is the Gran Acrópolis, a raised platform holding several structures, including Edzná's major temple, the 31m-high Edificio de los Cinco Pisos. The current structure is the last of four remodels and was done primarily in the Puuc style. It rises five levels from its base to the roofcomb and contains many vaulted rooms. A great central staircase of 65 steps, some with well-preserved glyphs along their bases, goes right to the top.
Climbers are rewarded with sweeping views of the whole complex and surrounding jungle canopy.
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Xpuhil
Xpuhil boasts a surreal skyscraper that is a striking example of the Río Bec style. The three towers (rather than the usual two) of Estructura I rise above a dozen vaulted rooms. The central tower, soaring 53m, is the best preserved. With its banded tiers and impractically steep stairways leading up to a temple that displays traces of a zoomorphic mask, it gives a good idea of what the other two must have looked like back in Xpuhil’s 8th-century heyday. Go around back to see a fierce jaguar mask embedded in the wall below the temple.
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Balamkú
Discovered in 1990, Balamkú is 60km west of Xpujil (88km east of Escárcega). This small site’s attractions are its frescoes and an exquisite, ornate stucco frieze. Amazingly, much original color is still visible on both the frescoes and the frieze. You’ll notice toads dominate the designs at Balamkú. These amphibians, not only at home on land and in water, were considered to move easily between this world and the next. The toad was a revered spirit guide who helped humans navigate between earth and the underworld.
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Baluarte de San Pedro
Directly behind Iglesia de San Juan de Dios, the Baluarte de San Pedro served a postpiracy defensive function when it repelled a punitive raid from Mérida in 1824. Carved in stone above the entry is the symbol of San Pedro: two keys to heaven and the papal tiara. Climb the steep ramp to the roof and look between the battlements to see San Juan’s cupola. Downstairs, the Galería y Museo de Arte Popular displays beautiful indigenous handicrafts.
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Hormiguero
Spanish for ‘anthill, ’ Hormiguero is an old site, with some buildings dating as far back as AD 50; however, the city flourished during the late Classic period. It has one of the most impressive buildings in the region. Entering the site, you will see the 50m-long Estructura II, which has a giant Chenes-style monster-mouth doorway with much of its decoration in good condition. Also check out Estructura V, 60m to the north.
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Museo de la Arquitectura Maya
The Baluarte de Nuestra Señora de la Soledad contains the fascinating Museo de la Arquitectura Maya, the one must-see museum in Campeche. It provides an excellent overview of the sites around Campeche state and the key architectural styles associated with them. Five halls display stelae taken from various sites, accompanied by graphic representations of their carved inscriptions with brief commentaries in flawless English.
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Fuerte Museo San José del Alto
San Miguel's northern counterpart, built in the late 18th century, sits atop the Cerro de Bellavista. From the parapets you can see where the town ends and the mangroves begin. Cross a drawbridge over a moat to enter the neatly restored fortress. Inside, the Fuerte Museo San José del Alto illustrates the port's maritime history through ship models, weaponry and other paraphernalia, including a beautiful ebony rudder carved in the shape of a hound.
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Museo de la Ciudad
Named after Spain’s King Carlos II, the Baluarte de San Carlos houses the Museo de la Ciudad. This small but worthwhile museum chronologically illustrates the city’s tempestuous history via well-displayed objects: specimens of dyewood, muskets, a figurehead from a ship’s prow and the like. The dungeon downstairs alludes to the building’s use as a military prison during the 1700s. The museum was closed during research.
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Ex-Templo de San José
Faced with flamboyant blue-and-yellow tiles, the Ex-Templo de San José is a wonder to behold; note the lighthouse, complete with weather vane, atop the right spire. Built in the early 18th century by Jesuits who ran it as an institute of higher learning until they were booted out of Spanish domains in 1767, it now serves as an exhibition space. It belongs to the Instituto Campechano, the university to which it’s attached.
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Plaza Principal
Crossing a sacbé (stone-paved avenue), you arrive at the main attraction, the Plaza Principal. Measuring 160m long and 100m wide, the Plaza Principal is surrounded by temples. On your right as you enter from the north is the Nohochná (Big House), a massive, elongated structure topped by four long halls likely used for administrative tasks, such as the collection of tributes and the dispensation of justice.
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Koolel Kab
Koolel Kab produces honey with indigenous melipona bees, which take up residence in hollow trees. Using techniques much like those of their ancestors, the women place sections of tree trunk under a shelter, capping each end of the trunk with mud. An average trunk yields 12L of honey, which is marketed chiefly for its medicinal properties as throat lozenges, eye drops, soaps and skin creams.
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Chicanná
Aptly named ‘House of the Snake’s Jaws,’ this Maya site is best known for one remarkably well-preserved doorway with a hideous fanged visage. Buried in the jungle 11km west of Xpujil and 400m south of Hwy 186, Chicanná is a mixture of Chenes and Río Bec architectural styles. The city attained its peak during the late Classic period, from AD 550 to 700, as a sort of elite suburb of Becán.
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Río Bec
Río Bec is the designation for a collection of small sites, 70 at last count, in a 100-sq-km area southeast of Xpujil. The remoteness of the site and ongoing excavations give it a certain buzz and mystique that’s lacking in established sites. Couple this with the fact that it’s nearly impossible to get here during the rainy season and you have the makings of a real adventure.
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Galería y Museo de Arte Popular
Directly behind Iglesia de San Juan de Dios is the Baluarte de San Pedro. Carved in stone above the entry is the symbol of San Pedro: two keys to heaven and the papal tiara. Climb the steep ramp to the roof and look between the battlements to see San Juan’s cupola. Downstairs, the Galería y Museo de Arte Popular displays beautiful indigenous handicrafts.
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Centro Cultural Casa Número 6
During the pre-revolutionary era, when the mansion was occupied by an upper-class campechano family, Número 6 was a prestigious plaza address. Wandering the premises, you’ll get an idea of how the city’s high society lived back then. The front sitting room is furnished with Cuban pieces of the period. Inside are exhibition spaces and a good bookstore.
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Edzná
Edzná once covered more than 17 sq km and was inhabited from approximately 600 BC to the 15th century AD. Most of the visible carvings date from AD 550 to 810. Though it’s a long way from such Puuc Hills sites as Uxmal and Kabah, some of the architecture here has elements of the Puuc style. What led to Edzná’s decline and gradual abandonment remains a mystery.
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Calakmul
In 1931 US botanist Cyrus Lundell was the first outsider to ‘discover’ Calakmul, which means ‘Adjacent Mounds.’ Mayanists consider Calakmul to be a site of vital archaeological significance. The site bears comparison in size and historical significance to Tikal in Guatemala, its chief rival for hegemony over the southern lowlands during the Classic era.
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Grutas de Xtacumbilxunaan
The Grutas de Xtacumbilxunaan, pronounced ‘Grutas de shtaa -koom-beel-shoo-nahn,’ is about 3km south of town. Lighted steps lead down to a barely visible cenote, beyond which a passage leads 100m further. There are few stalactites or stalagmites, but the climb back up to the green forest surrounding the cave is very dramatic.
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Catedral de Nuestra Señora de la Purísima Concepción
Dominating the Plaza Principal’s east side is this two-towered cathedral. The limestone structure has stood on this spot for more than three centuries, and it still fills beyond capacity most Sundays. Statues of St Peter and St Paul occupy niches in the baroque facade; the sober, single-nave interior is lined with colonial-era paintings.
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Templo de Mascarones
Southeast of Plaza Principal is the Templo de Mascarones, with a pair of reddish stucco masks underneath a protective palapa. Personifying the gods of the rising and setting sun, these extraordinarily well-preserved faces display dental mutilation, crossed eyes and huge earrings, features associated with the Maya aristocracy.
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Archaeological museum
Campeche’s largest colonial fort, facing the Gulf of Mexico some 4km southwest of the city center, is now home to the excellent archaeological museum. Here you can admire findings from the sites of Calakmul, Edzná and Jaina, an island north of town once used as a burial site for Maya aristocracy.
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