Bacalar () is the municipal seat and largest city in

Bacalar Municipality Bacalar is one of the eleven municipalities of the Mexican state of Quintana Roo Quintana Roo, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Quintana Roo, is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, constitute the 32 administrative d ...

(until 2011 a part of Othón P. Blanco Municipality) in the

Mexican state A Mexican State (), officially the Free and Sovereign State (), is a constituent federative entity of Mexico according to the Constitution of Mexico. Currently there are 31 states, each with its own constitution, government, state governor, a ...

Quintana Roo Quintana Roo, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Quintana Roo, is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, constitute the 32 administrative divisions of Mexico, federal entities of Mexico. It is divided into municipalities of ...

, about north of

Chetumal Chetumal (, , ; , ) is a city on the east coast of the Yucatán Peninsula in Mexico. It is the capital of the List of states of Mexico, state of Quintana Roo and the municipal seat of the Othón P. Blanco, Quintana Roo, Municipality of Othón ...

. In the 2010 census the city had a population of 11,084. At that time it was still part of Othón P. Blanco, and was its second-largest city (locality), after Chetumal.

Etymology

The name most likely derives from , (Sian Ka'an Bakhalal) meaning "surrounded by reeds", the name of the locality attested at the time of the 16th century arrival of the

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

Lake Bacalar Lake Bacalar (or Laguna Bacalar) is a long, narrow freshwater lake in the state of Quintana Roo, Mexico near Mexico's border with Belize. It is approximately 60km long measured from north to south, and 2km at its widest. It is the second largest ...

, a lagoon, is on the east side of the town.

History

Bacalar was a city of the

Maya civilization The Maya civilization () was a Mesoamerican civilization that existed from antiquity to the early modern period. It is known by its ancient temples and glyphs (script). The Maya script is the most sophisticated and highly developed writin ...

Pre-Columbian In the history of the Americas, the pre-Columbian era, also known as the pre-contact era, or as the pre-Cabraline era specifically in Brazil, spans from the initial peopling of the Americas in the Upper Paleolithic to the onset of European col ...

times, and was founded in 415 A.D. with the name of "Sian Ka'an Bakhalal". It was the first city in the region that the

Conquistador Conquistadors (, ) or conquistadores (; ; ) were Spanish Empire, Spanish and Portuguese Empire, Portuguese colonizers who explored, traded with and colonized parts of the Americas, Africa, Oceania and Asia during the Age of Discovery. Sailing ...

es succeeded in taking and holding, in 1543 (during the

1543–1544 Pachecos entrada The 15431544 Pachecos ''entrada'' was the final military campaign in the Spanish conquest of Yucatán, which brought three Postclassic Maya states and several Amerindian settlements in the southeastern quarter of the Yucatán Peninsula under t ...

). In 1545 Gaspar Pacheco established the Spanish town here with the name Salamanca de Bacalar with the help of

Juan de la Cámara Juan de la Cámara (1525–1602) was a Spanish conquistador, nobleman, and colonial administrator known for his role in the Spanish Conquest of Yucatán. Born into the noble de la Cámara family, he arrived in the New World in 1539 and played a ke ...

. The southern half of what is now Quintana Roo was governed from Bacalar, answerable to the Captain General of

Yucatán Yucatán, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Yucatán, is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, constitute the 32 federal entities of Mexico. It comprises 106 separate municipalities, and its capital city is Mérida. ...

in Mérida. After pirates sacked the town in the 17th century, the Fortress de San Felipe Bacalar was completed in 1729, and may be visited today. In 1848 Bacalar had a population of about 5,000. In 1848, during the

Caste War of Yucatán The Caste War of Yucatán or ''ba'atabil kichkelem Yúum'' (1847–1915) began with the revolt of Indigenous peoples of Mexico, indigenous Maya peoples, Maya people of the Yucatán Peninsula against Hispanic populations, called ''Yucatecos''. Th ...

, rebellious

Chan Santa Cruz Chan Santa Cruz was a late 19th-century indigenous Maya state in the modern-day Mexican state of Quintana Roo. It was also the name of a shrine that served as the center of the Maya CruzoobAlso spelled ''Cruzob'' or ''Crusoob''. religious mo ...

Maya conquered the town. It was retaken by the Mexicans in 1902. Bacalar was named a "

Pueblo Mágico Pueblo refers to the settlements of the Pueblo peoples, Native American tribes in the Southwestern United States, currently in New Mexico, Arizona, and Texas. The permanent communities, including some of the oldest continually occupied settlemen ...

" in 2006. Between 2005 and 2010 so-called

Russian Mennonites The Russian Mennonites ( it. "Russia Mennonites", i.e., Mennonites of or from the Russian Empire are a group of Mennonites who are the descendants of Dutch and North German Anabaptists who settled in the Vistula delta in West Prussia for about 2 ...

who speak

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

established a colony in Salamanca that had 967 inhabitants in 2010 and 1.175 in 2020. All inhabitants were

Protestants Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...

and only one of those aged 15 and over was illiterate.

Transportation

Bacalar is also served by a station of the

Tren Maya Tren Maya (Yucatec Maya: , sometimes also Mayan Train or Maya Train) is a inter-city railway in Mexico that traverses the Yucatán Peninsula. Construction began in June 2020 and the Campeche–Cancún section began operation on December 15, 202 ...

, which opened on October 6, 2024, alongside the

Chetumal Airport railway station Chetumal Airport is a train station near Chetumal, Quintana Roo. The station connects with the Chetumal International Airport. Tren Maya Andrés Manuel López Obrador announced the ''Tren Maya'' project in his 2018 presidential campaign. On 13 ...

. Additionally, the nearby and

Chacchoben Chacchoben (chak-cho-BEN; Maya for "the place of red corn") is a Maya ruin approximately 110 mi (177 km) south of Tulum and 7 mi (11 km) from the village from which it derives its name. History Settlement by the Maya at the ...

archeological sites are served by a separate Tren Maya station, called the ().

References

External links

Municipio de Bacalar
Official website of Bacalar Municipality
Bacalar MosaicoAyuntamiento de Othón P. Blanco
Official website of Othón P. Blanco Municipality {{Authority control Populated places in Quintana Roo Pueblos Mágicos Municipality seats in Quintana Roo

Etymology

History

Transportation

References

Further reading

External links