With its attractive colonial capital, Spanish forts, and ancient Mayan ruins, the State of Campeche remains one of Mexico's undiscovered treasures.

trolling along Campeche's orderly streets,

Campeche's handsome cathedral is one of the oldest churches on the Yucatan Peninsula.

lined with Spanish colonial houses painted soothing pastel shades of blue, pink, yellow, and green, I found it difficult to believe that this peaceful city had been sacked and burned repeatedly by buccaneers for over two centuries. But it wasn't long before I came across testaments to Campeche's violent past--high stone walls mounted by rusty cannons still aimed at the steel-gray Gulf of Mexico where pirate ships used to prowl. These twelve-foot-thick walls, which took eighteen years to complete, originally formed a hexagon around the entire city and linked eight strategically placed bastions or baluartes, seven of which still stand guard over the port. Fortifications once even extended out to sea, allowing Spanish galleons to sail into Campeche's inner harbor safely, out of reach of lurking pirates.
        Campeche, capital of the state of Campeche, was officially founded in 1540 by the conquistador Francisco Montejo y Le—n the Younger on the site of a former Mayan trading center called Ah Kin Pech. Ships laden with dyes, lumber, gold, and silver set sail for Spain from Campeche, which by the late sixteenth century had become the most important Spanish port on Mexico's Yucat n Peninsula. In 1999, UNESCO designated Campeche's forty-three-block historic center a World Heritage Site, and over one thousand of the city's handsome colonial structures have been extensively restored. Today, Campeche's easygoing, Old World ambience offers a perfect antidote to the crowded resorts on the Caribbean side of the Yucat n. In addition, the little-visited southern part of the state boasts a wealth of Mayan archaeological sites, including Edzn , Chicann , Bec n, Xpujil, and the magnificent city of Calakmul, another World Heritage Site located in the heart of Mexico's largest biosphere reserve.

To the Baluartes

decided to begin my explorations of old Campeche at the Baluarte de San Carlos, which has been turned into a city museum. Behind this bastion's iron-studded front door, I found rooms arrayed with armor, muskets, swords, and old coins as well as models and photographs chronicling Campeche's development. I also descended into a dank, echoing dungeon and then climbed steep steps to the baluarte's upper level for a view of downtown. Here I struck up a conversation with one of the museum's guards. He pointed to a nearby cluster of bland modern buildings, shook his head in frustration, and said that the area would have been much prettier if "estupido" municipal planners hadn't torn down parts of the original wall during the 1960s to make way for new construction. Most of the wall that enclosed old Campeche is now gone, but fortunately the demolition of other colonial structures was halted before things got out of hand.

Campeche's Fuerte San José El Alto has been totally restored.

        Several of Campeche's other baluartes have also been put to good use. The Baluarte de la Soledad houses the Museo de Estelas Mayas, a museum with an extensive collection of weathered Mayan stone sculptures from around the state. A few blocks away, the Baluarte de Santiago has been transformed into the Jard¡n Bot nico Xmuch Haltun. This compact botanical garden brims with some 250 species of tropical plants set among fountains and courtyards. A regional handicraft center with permanent exhibits and a store occupies the Baluarte de San Pedro near the city's market. The baluartes are easy to spot with their medieval-looking walls, merlons, and cylindrical sentry posts jutting out from their corners.
        Drawn by the sight of twin cathedral towers rising in the distance, I made my way to the Parque Principal, Campeche's main plaza. En route, I passed the Puerta del Mar (sea gate), an imposing stone archway marking what was once the city's principal seaside entrance. Another portal, the Puerta de Tierra (land gate), mirrors the Puerta del Mar on the old city's far side. The Puerta de Tierra is often the set for a boisterous sound and light show that uses exploding cannons and actors in costumes to simulate a pirate attack. Before long, I found myself standing in front of La Catedral de la Concepci—n, the cathedral that dominates the northeast side of the shaded Parque Central. With its high-arched entrance and uncluttered classical lines, this harmonious building has a long history. The original church was built in 1540, making it one of the oldest on the Yucat n Peninsula. It fell into disrepair and was gradually restored and rebuilt during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.
        I left the cathedral and walked through a long, arcaded passageway, known as Las Portales, which flanks the plaza's northwest side. At the next street corner, I encountered throngs of young children dressed in frilly costumes marching amid cars decorated with flowers, balloons, hearts, and butterflies. A bystander informed me that they were part of a parade held every year to celebrate the coming of spring. I found this an odd spectacle in a sultry climate where temperatures vary little from month to month. I eventually navigated my way through the crowds and continued down Calle 57 to Casa Seis, an opulent sixteenth-century mansion that has been turned into a museum and cultural center.
        Originally called Casa Se–orial, Casa Seis dates back to the founding of Campeche. This opulent mansion, which was once the home of prosperous merchants, tumbled into virtual ruin during the second half of the twentieth century. Fortunately, a government-sponsored program aimed at revitalizing Campeche's historic architecture led to the complete restoration of Casa Seis during the 1990s. Once inside the mansion's wide front doors, I caught my breath in a spacious atrium with curving Moorish arches and cool marble floors. Doors surrounding an inner patio ringed by pillared arcades opened into high-ceilinged rooms crammed with colonial furniture and paintings. At the back of the building, I visited a kitchen with traditional utensils and fixtures and browsed in the center's well-stocked bookstore. I also chatted with a young man who worked there about the various cultural activities--such as music recitals, art exhibits, and seminars--that take place at Casa Seis.
        Campeche's ambitious restoration project didn't stop at the city's historic core. On the outskirts of town, two old Spanish forts complete with moats and drawbridges have been extensively refurbished and opened to the public. Sitting in splendid isolation on a hilltop northeast of downtown, Fuerte San Jos‚ el Alto offers sweeping views of the Gulf of Mexico, and its converted soldiers' quarters contain maritime exhibits. To the southwest, Fuerte San Miguel is home to the Museo de Cultura Maya, an archaeological museum displaying artifacts from throughout the

The Edificio De Los Cinco Pisos, or "five-story building," dominates the ancient Mayan city of Edzná.

state of Campeche. Walking through the museum's galleries filled with intricate stone sculptures, pottery, and haunting jade masks from Calakmul, I couldn't help feeling it ironic that these irreplaceable Mayan works of art are now protected by walls built by those who had all but destroyed Mexico's ancient cultures.

A Mayan journey

n the next day, I joined a group of travelers for a three-day tour of Mayan archaeological sites in the southern region of Campeche State. Our guide, Israel, a native of Campeche and himself part Mayan, informed us that Campeche has the highest concentration of pre-Hispanic ruins in Mexico. Most of these remote cities have yet to be thoroughly excavated and thus remain potential treasure troves for archaeologists. Looking at my map of Campeche State, I managed to find our first destination, Edzn , among a forest of unpronounceable Mayan place-names. Edzn  lies only about thirty miles southeast of the city of Campeche but worlds away from its Spanish colonial atmosphere.
        As we headed out of town on the road to Edzn , I was happy to note that ugly urban sprawl had not yet marred Campeche's outskirts to the extent that it has in so many of Mexico's otherwise attractive colonial cities. Soon we left the coastal breezes behind and entered a flat, unforgiving-looking landscape covered in scrubby vegetation punctuated by the occasional towering ceiba tree. For the Maya, the ceiba, or "world tree," is a sacred tree that connects the terrestrial and heavenly realms. Ceibas can exceed 150 feet in height, and their umbrella-shaped crowns house countless species of plants and animals.
        We stopped along the way to Edzn  at Hacienda Uaymon, an old henequen plantation that has been reincarnated as a luxury hotel. Henequen, a bluish-green cactus used to make sisal, is native to the Yucat n. The Maya have cultivated henequen for centuries in order to fashion items such as hammocks, rope, and coarse textiles. The Spanish capitalized on the plant's commercial potential during the late 1700s; dozens of henequen haciendas soon blossomed throughout the peninsula, making it one of the richest areas in Mexico. The henequen boom lasted into the early nineteenth century, but the demand for the Yucat n's "green gold" eventually all but disappeared with increasing global competition and the advent of synthetic textiles. After a tour of Hacienda Uaymon's tastefully appointed rooms and luxuriant grounds, I explored its ruined outbuildings where henequen was once processed. All that remains of this once-prosperous operation is a tangled mass of crumbling limestone walls and arches presided over by a lonely chimney stack.
        Israel explained to us that the word Edzn  probably means "home of the Itz es," the Itz es being the name given to various Mayan groups native to southern Campeche. An agricultural settlement was established at Edzn  perhaps as long ago as 600 b.c. Over the centuries Edzn  grew into a major city and regional capital, reaching its zenith between a.d. 600 and 900. The ruins were not discovered by outsiders until 1927, when archaeologist Nazario Quintana Bello came across Edzn 's well-preserved buildings languishing under centuries of vegetation. Today, Edzn  has been thoroughly restored, and it is Campeche's best-known archaeological site.
        Once at Edzn , we followed a winding path through the jungle to the ancient city's Main Plaza, a grassy expanse surrounded by massive stone buildings. The Edificio de los Cinco Pisos, a five-story edifice almost a hundred feet high, dominates the plaza. This imposing structure, part palace and part pyramid, rises from a large elevated architectural complex known as the Great Acropolis. A wide central staircase rises up the Edificio de los Cinco Pisos to a small temple crowned with the remains of an elaborate "roof comb," a decorative structure made up of closely spaced limestone columns. Israel took us to the top of the pyramid for a panoramic view of the ruins. On the way, we stopped to examine some of its many vaulted rooms. Although dark and claustrophobic, they were refreshingly cool--perfect places for ancient Mayan priests to escape the relentless tropical sun.
        Israel then led us behind the Great Acropolis to the Temple of the Masks. Red stucco masks depicting a solar deity with jaguarlike fangs adorn the base of this small building. The jaguar was a sacred animal to the Maya, who associated it with the sun's nightly journey through the underworld. We also visited Edzn 's ball court. In this narrow rectangular space flanked by stone bleachers, the Maya played a ritual ball game that was popular throughout pre-Columbian Mesoamerica. This difficult game consisted of two teams using their bodies--but never their hands or feet--to knock a solid rubber ball through stone hoops placed high on the court's walls. Contests apparently lasted for days and had great cosmic significance, symbolizing the battle between opposites, such as day and night and good and evil. Friezes discovered at other Mayan cities show the captain of either the losing or winning team being decapitated as a sacrifice to the gods.
        We ventured farther south on our second day to Xpujil, Bec n, and Chicann , three small archaeological sites on the edges of the Calakmul Biosphere Reserve. These ancient Mayan cities are examples of the Rio Bec architectural style. Rather than the blocky palaces and pyramids of Edzn , which were built mainly in what is known as the Pet‚n style, the Rio Bec--style cities have low buildings flanked by high, elegantly carved towers. Common decorative motifs at the Rio Bec sites include jaguars and celestial serpents. At Chicann , Israel took us to a building with an elaborate entranceway framed by a giant earth-monster mask. Stepping through this eerie portal ringed by fangs, I felt that I was about to be swallowed whole by some primeval Mayan god.

Treasures at Calakmul

hat night, we stayed at the Chicann  Ecovillage, a comfortable, ecologically minded hotel complex near the village of Xipuhil. The hotel's thatched-roof buildings fit well into the surrounding jungle, and it offered all the luxuries of an upscale resort, despite its isolated location. Unfortunately, we had little time to enjoy the resort's amenities. Israel announced that we would have to leave for our final destination, Calakmul, well before sunrise. The little-visited Mayan ruins of Calakmul lie in the middle of the Calakmul Biosphere Reserve, the largest protected area of virgin rain forest in Mexico. The reserve encompasses nearly two million acres, about 13 percent of the state of Campeche, and is home to many species of rare and endangered animals. The archaeological site of Calakmul--which was made a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 2002--has more than six thousand structures and at its peak was home to at least fifty thousand people, making it one of the biggest cities in the Mayan world.

Moorish-style arches are a testimony to Campeche's rich history as a major trading center.

        It was still dark when we set out on the paved road leading to Calakmul. As dawn began to break, it became clear that we had already penetrated deep into the heart of the tropical rain forest. The road narrowed to a single lane, and lush vegetation hemmed in the bus on both sides. Our driver stopped unexpectedly to allow a pair of brightly plumed ocellated turkeys to cross the path. Farther on, we saw a nimble white-tailed deer leap into the underbrush. We arrived at the archaeological site's parking lot just as the sun was rising and made our way to the ruins along a trail shaded by enormous kapok, sapodilla, and mahogany trees festooned with hanging vines.
        A noisy flock of parrots greeted us at Calakmul's Great Plaza, and two brilliantly colored keel-billed toucans flew overhead and disappeared into the forest's depths. Unlike most Mayan sites, Calakmul has not been cleared of natural vegetation, so its weathered monuments seem only a step away from being consumed by the jungle. Calakmul gets its name--which means "two adjacent mounds"--from two huge pyramids, now called Structure I and II, that loom over Calakmul's Great Plaza. Structure I, the larger of the duo, towers 180 feet above the ruins and has the greatest volume of any Mayan building.
        Calakmul is best known for its many stelae, large tombstonelike slabs of limestone covered in carvings. Over a hundred stelae have been discovered at Calakmul, more than at any other Mayan city. The Maya stood these sculptures at the base of their pyramids, where they are thought to have represented sacred trees. Most of Calakmul's stelae are badly eroded, but I was able to make out faded glyphs and the ghostly outlines of long-dead rulers.
        In 1988, a researcher named William J. Folan made a remarkable discovery at Calakmul. Under Structure III, a small palace standing east of the Great Plaza, he came across a tomb harboring the remains of one of Calakmul's early rulers surrounded by offerings, which included elaborately decorated pottery, thousands of shell beads, pearls, and three exquisite jade mosaic masks still clinging to the ruler's skeleton. These artifacts are now displayed at Fuerte San Miguel in the city of Campeche.
        After exploring the ruins, we panted our way up a steep stairway to the top of Structure I. Looking out over the reserve's untouched forests stretching all the way to Guatemala, I wondered how many other hidden treasures await archaeologists beneath this precious sea of greenery.