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| Cancun. |
Cancun History
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Cancun on the coast of the Yucatan peninsula,
where the Mayans, building on the ideas and inventions of the
earlier Olmec civilization, settled around AD 200 and prospered,
trading along the Mexican Caribbean, for hundreds of years.
In these days, Cancun was a busy trading center. Of course,
all of this changed with the arrival of the Spanish, who took
over trade and all other business. |
The first Spanish to arrive to the region arrived (several years
before Hernan Cortes and his forces) were shipwrecked in Jamaica
in 1511. One, Gonzalo Guerrero, married a noble woman from the area
and fathered the first mestizo, children of mixed blood. While Guerrero
led Mayan warriors in their fight against the Spanish conquerors
that arrived in 1519, Jerónimo de Aguilar, the only other
survivor of the shipwreck aided the conquerors as a translator.
The conquest itself was particularly difficult in this area because
the population was disperse and did not easily give up their fight
against the Spanish. Colonial life in the area was also fraught
with difficulty. Indigenous rebellions and piracy were continuous
problems for the Spanish. Even after Mexico declared its independence,
the area continued to be home to conflict. The Caste Wars from 1847
to 1901 between the Mayans and all “whites” were long
and violent wars. The Mayans very nearly took over the entire peninsula,
but they were pushed back into the jungle where they established
the city of Chan Santa Cruz and were relatively independent for
over fifty years. Because of this conflict, very little colonial
architecture remains standing.
Dictator Porfirio Díaz brought the situation under control
by dispersing the indigenous rebels and establishing the state of
Quintana Roo in 1902, although even the establishment of the state
was later contested.
Cancun itself was selected as the site for an international resort
in the late 1960s by a as part of President Echeverria’s tourism
program. (Some say that a computer program selected the site.) The
Cancun project (to build a tourism zone, a residential area, and
a nearby airport) was approved in 1969, but development began in
the 1970s. Cancun rapidly became a large and very dynamic city.
By 1976, the city had 18,000 inhabitants. Six years later, it had
70,000 inhabitants. Currently there are more than 500,000 inhabitants
and it seems that the city will continue to grow and prosper.
More Information
 www.state.gov
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Cancun Travel Guides
Frommer's Cancun
Lonely Planet Cancun
Let's Go Cancun
Fodors Cancun
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