Bacalar () is the municipal seat and largest city in

Bacalar Municipality Bacalar is one of the ten municipalities of the Mexican state of Quintana Roo. The municipal seat and most populous town is the eponymous Bacalar Bacalar () is the municipal seat and largest city in Bacalar Municipality (until 2011 a part of ...

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

Mexican state The states of Mexico are first-level administrative territorial entities of the country of Mexico, which is officially named Mexico, United Mexican States. There are 32 federal entities in Mexico (31 states and the capital, Mexico City, as a sepa ...

of Quintana Roo, about north of Chetumal, at 18° 40' 37" N, 88° 23' 43" W. In the 2010 census the city had a population of 11,084 people. At that time it was still a part of Othón P. Blanco, and was its second-largest city (locality), after Chetumal. The name most likely derives from myn, bʼak halal, meaning "surrounded by reeds", the name of the locality attested at the time of the 16th century arrival of the Spanish. Bacalar is also the name of the lagoon,

Bacalar lagoon Bacalar () is the municipal seat and largest city in Bacalar Municipality (until 2011 a part of Othón P. Blanco Municipality) in the Mexican state of Quintana Roo, about north of Chetumal, at 18° 40' 37" N, 88° 23' 43" W. In the 2010 census ...

on the east side of the town. Bacalar was a city of the

Maya civilization The Maya civilization () of the Mesoamerican people is known by its ancient temples and glyphs. Its Maya script is the most sophisticated and highly developed writing system in the pre-Columbian Americas. It is also noted for its art, archit ...

Pre-Columbian In the history of the Americas, the pre-Columbian era spans from the original settlement of North and South America in the Upper Paleolithic period through European colonization, which began with Christopher Columbus's voyage of 1492. Usually, th ...

times. This was the first city in the region which the Spanish

Conquistador Conquistadors (, ) or conquistadores (, ; meaning 'conquerors') were the explorer-soldiers of the Spanish and Portuguese Empires of the 15th and 16th centuries. During the Age of Discovery, conquistadors sailed beyond Europe to the Americas, O ...

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 Yucatan, which brought three Postclassic Mayan states and several Amerindian settlements in the southeastern quarter of the Yucatan peninsula under ...

). 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 and an hidalgo (nobility), hidalgo. Born in Alcala de Henares, Spain, he arrived in New Spain (present day Mexico) in 1539 and joined the Spanish Conquest of Yucatán, becoming one of ...

. The region of the southern half of what is now Quintana Roo was governed from Bacalar, answerable to the Captain General of Yucatán in Mérida. Lake in Xula Mexico, Quintana Roo, Yucatan

Lake in Xula Mexico, Quintana Roo, Yucatan

After the town was sacked by

pirate Piracy is an act of robbery or criminal violence by ship or boat-borne attackers upon another ship or a coastal area, typically with the goal of stealing cargo and other valuable goods. Those who conduct acts of piracy are called pirates, v ...

s in the 17th century, the Fortress de San Felipe Bacalar was completed in 1729, and may still be visited today. In 1848 Bacalar had a population of about 5,000 people. In 1848 during the

Caste War of Yucatán The Caste War of Yucatán (1847–1915) began with the revolt of Native Maya people of the Yucatán Peninsula against Hispanic populations, called ''Yucatecos''. The latter had long held political and economic control of the region. A lengthy w ...

rebellious

Chan Santa Cruz Chan Santa Cruz was the name of a shrine in Mexico of the Maya Cruzob (or Cruzoob) religious movement. It was also the name of the town that developed around it (now known as Felipe Carrillo Puerto) and, less formally, the late 19th-century indi ...

Maya conquered the town. It was not retaken by the Mexicans until 1902. Bacalar was named a " Pueblo Mágico" in 2006. Between 2005 and 2010 so-called Russian Mennonites who speak

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

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

Protestants Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century against what its followers perceived to b ...

and only one of those aged 15 and over was illiterate.Salamanca in Bacalar (Quintana Roo)
at www.citypopulation.de

Notes

References

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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