The first Spanish landed on the shores here in the early 1500´s and were allowed to stay temporarily by the Maya leader. When the Spanish took no notice of this the whole crew were killed. It wasnt until 20 years later after the Maya leader died and numberous attempts to attack Campeche that the Spanish managed to defeat the Mayas. It become a major port to Europe of wood, silver and gold. Pirates (English and French) soon became aware of the richness of the city and would frequently attack it. This led to the Spanish building a fortress around the city to help protect it. Some of this fortress still stands today. The city is very famous for the pirates. Lots of money has been spent here to renovate old houses and it is now a Unesco World Heritage site. The houses are all terraced down narrow cobbled streets and are all different colours. It is a very quiet city.
