Bacalar
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- This page is about the Mexican town called Bacalar, for the semi-legendaric island that is sometimes called Bacalar, see Bacalao.
Bacalar is a town in Othón P. Blanco municipality in the Mexican state of Quintana Roo, about 40 km north of Chetumal, at 18.67°N, 88.38°W. In the 2005 census the town had a population of 9,833 people.
Bacalar is also the name of the lake or lagoon on the east side of the town.
Bacalar was a city of the Maya civilization in Pre-Columbian times. This was the first city in the region which the Spanish Conquistadores succeeded in taking and holding in 1543. In 1545 Gaspar Pacheco established the Spanish town here with the name Salamanca de Bacalar. 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.
After the town was sacked by pirates in 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 rebellious Chan Santa Cruz Maya conquered the town. It was not retaken by the Mexicans until 1902.
[edit] References
- Link to tables of population data from Census of 2005 INEGI: Instituto Nacional de Estadística, Geografía e Informática
[edit] External links
- Bacalar Mosaico
- Ayuntamiento de Othon P. Blanco Official website of Municipality of Othón P. Blanco
