Fuerte-Museo San Miguel

NileGuide Expert tip:

Hours of Operation: Tuesday to Sunday, 8:30 am to 6:00 pm Admission: MX$31/US$3.10. Free for children under 13, students, teachers and senior citizens Payment: Cash How to Get There: By car, drive south on the Malecon, which becomes Av. Resurgimiento. Turn left uphill onto Subida Escéncia and left again onto Av. Escéncia. Free Parking By bus, take the Playa Bonita or Lerma bus along the Malecon and ask to get off at the fort and prepare yourself for a steep 700 meter hike uphill.

Description:

• The Fuerte de San Miguel is one of two hilltop forts built to protect Campeche from pirates in the 18th century. Crowning San Bartolo hill, the fort possesses commanding views of the Gulf of Mexico. The defenses are formidable, with a zigzagging entrance passage leading to a wooden drawbridge over a deep moat, now covered by green grass. The fort houses the excellent Museo Arqueologico de Campeche, which contains the world-famous jade funerary masks discovered at the Mayan site of Calakmul, and other treasures.

• © NileGuide2012

Awards:

Frommer's

•  Highly Recommended 2010