12 Fortified Port Cities Where History Meets the Ocean Waves

12. Campeche, Mexico: Pirate-Proofed Jewel of the Yucatan

Tired of relentless pirate attacks in the 17th century, the citizens of Campeche on the Yucatan Peninsula took matters into their own hands, financing and building an impressive hexagonal defensive wall around their city. With its eight formidable baluartes (bastions), sections of which still stand magnificently, this UNESCO World Heritage site became the best-fortified port in the Spanish Americas against buccaneers. Today, you can walk these historic walls and explore the bastions, feeling the resilience of a city that dared to defy the terrors of the high seas.