Spanish Conqueror Hernán Cortés landed at San Juan
de Ulúa on Thursday 21st
April, 1519,
next day, they went on and disembarked at Chalchihuecan beach,
it was Good Friday, therefore spaniards named the site as:
"Villa Rica de la Verdadera Cruz"
later to become : Veracruz
Veracruz has been referred to as "The Major Gate to Mexican History"
The port of Veracruz is only one of six cities in Mexico with a World Trade Center. This increases the city's attractiveness for national and international trade shows and conventions.
Some 5 million tourists visit the state of Veracruz on an annual basis;
approximately 22% of that total represents business visitors Hotel occupancy
in the port of Veracruz metropolitan area. The metropolitan area of the
port of Veracruz has a total of 153 hotels with a combined capacity of
4,250 rooms.
| Veracruz
in history
The Spanish Conquest of Mexico began precisely in what is today's State of Veracruz. The first major spanish expedition, led by Hernan Cortes, landed at the beaches of San Juan de Ulúa on 21st April 1519 and next day, on a Good Friday, Cortes founded the first town council on the American continent at what was then called by the Spaniards: Villa Rica de la Vera Cruz. Today, the port of Veracruz remembers the 22nd of April in the year of 1519 as the date of its founding. The Spaniards subsequently established two other strategically important cities in present day Veracruz state, both located at where major rivers met the Gulf of Mexico. These communities were Villa de Santiesteban del Puerto (now Panuco) in the northern part of the state and Villa del Espiritu Santo (now Coatzacoalcos) in the extreme southern part. During the Colonial period, the port of Veracruz became an important point of contact, politically and commercially, between Spain and the new dominions of the Spanish Crown in Mexico. As goods and people moved between the port and Mexico City, a number of trade important communities quickly developed: Xalapa, Cordoba and Orizaba. At the conclusion of Mexico's War of Independence from Spain, the treaties recognizing the independence of Mexico were signed at Cordoba in 1823. Subsequent to independence, one of Mexico's most flamboyant and controversial
historical figures, Veracruz native General Antonio Lopez de Santa Ana,
dominated much of Mexico's political life until the 1850s.
In 1858-1860, then President Benito Juarez established the seat of his government at the port of Veracruz, from where he issued Mexico's famous Reform Laws. In 1864, Austria's Archduke Maximilian arrived at the port of Veracruz en route to Mexico City, where he was to establish the Second Mexican Empire, driving Juarez into exile. Three years later, with the collapse of the Empire and the execution of Maximilian, the Archduke's body was to leave Mexico from Veracruz. During the Presidential period of Porfirio Diaz which lasted 31 years, the first major uprisings favoring agrarian and labor reforms --precursors to the Mexican Revolution of 1911- took place in the state of Veracruz, at communities such as Acayucan, Santa Rosa and Rio Blanco. When Diaz resigned the Presidency In 1910, he left for Europe from the port of Veracruz, never to return to Mexico. The port of Veracruz housed the provisional government of President Venustiano Carranza for a number of months during the Revolution. During the late 1950's and throughout the 1960's, the port of Veracruz became a major manufacturing development pole as part of Mexico's industrial decentralization policies, with Veracruz as a result becoming a major national producer of steel, aluminum, machine tools and petroleum industry equipment. |
 Modern Veracruz The port city of Veracruz is at almost the same latitude as Mexico
City, 261 miles due west.
By car, the 4 hour drive passes through the state of Puebla and across the formidable Cumbres de Maltrata mountains down into the lush vegetation that characterizes just about all the state of Veracruz. Among its main attractions are: The San Juan de Ulua Fort, which nowadays is a museum
In or nearby of the Puerto de Veracruz, you can enjoy several swimming beaches where you will also find restaurants offering the delicious regional cuisine at the following locations: Villa del Mar
Other attractions in the Puerto de Veracruz are the Mandinga Lagoon and the Island of the Sacrifices. The most important festivity of the port of Veracruz is its famous Carnival, which is celebrated with parades, dances and other amusing activities. Thirty five miles to the north of the Puerto de Veracruz is situated the Chachalacas sandbar which has beautiful beaches with soft sand and gentle waves, where you can practice aquatic sports. |
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