Calkiní

For the municipaility, see Calkiní Municipality. For the station, see Calkiní railway station.

Calkiní
City and municipal seat
Calkiní
Coordinates: 20°22′N 90°03′W
Country	Mexico
State	Campeche
Municipality	Calkiní
Government
• Municipal president	Jorge Antonio Cocom Collí (2006-09)
Elevation	14 m (46 ft)
Population  (2010)
• Total	14,934
Time zone	UTC−6 (Central (US Central))
• Summer (DST)	UTC−5 (Central)
City status	30 November 1918
Website	www.calkini.gob.mx

Calkiní (Yucatec Maya: "throat of the sun") is a city in the Mexican state of Campeche. It is situated at the northern tip of the state, on the central western coast the Yucatán Peninsula. It serves as the municipal seat for the surrounding municipality of the same name. As of 2010, the city of Calkiní had a population of 14,934.

Calkini's San Luis Obispo or San Luis Calkiní church was founded in 1549 by the Franciscan Fray Diego de Villalpando as a mission and constructed on the base of the main ceremonial Mayan structure located on the site, thus ensuring both handily available building materials and a natural predisposition of the soon-to-be-converted Mayan population to gravitate towards this sacred place.

Its strategic location halfway between Campeche and Merida made it both the head mission for the Franciscans in the region by 1588 and the second-largest town in the entire province of Yucatan, which then encompassed all three current states on the Yucatan peninsula.

Today, it is a pretty town with many colorful facades and a manicured central plaza, and a popular stop for meandering tourists when traveling between Merida and Campeche or to nearby Isla Arena.

References

• Calkiní Enciclopedia de los Municipios de México

External links

• Ayuntamiento de Calkiní Official website (in Spanish)
• Municipio de Calkiní from official Campeche state government website (in Spanish)
• All about Yucatan churches